Between 200 and 300 people will gather for a no-frills version of the Run Like Mike 5-kilometer run and 2-mile walk, starting at 8:30 a.m. Sunday in Gallup Park.

Registration is available for $15 online ($10 for the walk and $5 for a 100-yard kid’s dash), or for $20 ($15 for the walk) in person from 7:30-8:15 a.m. on race day in the Gallup Park Community Room. The fees will raise money for United Cerebral Palsy of Metro Detroit.

The annual Run Like Mike, which began in 2002, memorializes Michael J. Rutka, a husband and father of two, who was killed by a passing automobile in 1999 while training for the Twin Cities Marathon.

This year’s theme is to “be free to be whoever you want to be, and be excited about life,” said Kathleen Gina, the race’s director and a friend of Rutka. “Mike was always excited to be with anybody, anytime, anywhere. He was always interested in anything you had to say, and he made every situation he was ever in fun.”

This year’s participants will be having fun with less, Gina said, because of a lack of funding. The race has eliminated ceramic art gifts that used to be awarded to winners, opted not to hire the usual $1,500 race scoring service and will be distribute fewer medals.

“With the economy being so bad, we had to take a few things away this year,” Gina said.

Run Like Mike has, however, retained the popular T-shirts, which are designed each year according to the theme, and will go to the first 200 people who register.

Regardless of funding, Gina said this year's race would be a fun family event, and the tradition will continue for years. “It was my promise that I would do this for the rest of my life,” she said.

For more information, visit runlikemike.org or e-mail Gina at thebigdog@twodogsrunning.com.

James Briggs covers sports for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at jamesbriggs@annarbor.com or 734-623-2557.