The Urban Wildland Half Marathon & 5K began in 2003 to save Wood Lake Nature Center's environmental education partnership with the Richfield Public Schools, which was in jeopardy due to cuts in local government aid. Since Wood Lake Nature Center's opening in 1971, Richfield's K-6 students had visited Wood Lake three times a year as part of their science curriculum. Thanks to the Urban Wildland, the program was spared and has continued every year with proceeds from this event.
The Urban Wildland makes every effort to provide a green, no-waste race. All materials used for the race are reused, recycled or composted. Electricity at the finish line is provided by solar power. To Offset the carbon footprint of a large event, $1 from each registration is donated to the Santa Familia Teaching Garden in Cayo, Belize, where students plant hardwood rainforest trees that captures tons of carbon dioxide each year.