Participants dressed in Where's Waldo costumes included with the price of admission, with raised funds going towards "Waldo Canyon restoration, disaster relief, fire recovery, outdoor activities and trails and open space maintenance in the local community.

"[1] The race was founded by Chelise Foster in 2012 as a response to the Waldo Canyon Wildfire.

Foster was an elope, Inc. employee at the time, and the company agreed to provide Waldo and Wenda costumes at a discount for the event, and has been the presenting sponsor since.

[3][4] The inaugural race at the America the Beautiful Park included over 1,000 participants, and raised approximately $20,000 for the Waldo Canyon Firefighter Relief Fund.

[3] Since 2012, event organizers attempted to break the Guinness World Record for "Largest gathering of people dressed as Wally/Waldo" with no success.