The Swazi 5K began in 2008 when Karen Dedmon became passionate about helping Swaziland. She and her husband Scott had been on early teams to Swaziland (now called Eswatini) and saw ways they could get involved to help with targeted needs in this southern African nation.
Karen is a labor and delivery nurse and saw the needs of women and children. Scott is an architect and saw clinics, nurses housing, churches and schools that needed to be built or renovated. They also wanted more people to go and visit Swaziland to become as passionate as they were about this nation. Scholarships could be provided to help with travel, if an event like a Swazi 5K could be started. A great thank you to the Dedmons for their passion and work to see the Swazi 5K come to fruition and to gather a great committee to work together on this annual event.
Scott and Karen gave leadership to the Swazi 5K for 11 years and raised $256,492.00 to help targeted ministries in Eswatini and in Bethany with their After-School Program. Even though they retired after the 2019 event, they have left a talented committee in place to continue their legacy of excellence.