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The fifth-annual Race for a Dream, a 5K run/3K walk held in honor of a James Hubert Blake High School student killed in car crash may become a memory if participation continues to decline, the race's chairwoman said.

The Blake PTA-sponsored race funds the Blake after-prom, an all-night, alcohol-free event at Dave & Busters at White Flint Mall in Bethesda. The race was initially formed to raise scholarship funds for Blake students in the name of Alicia Betancourt, a Blake student killed in a September 2004 car crash.

While the scholarship program continues, this year's race marks the first time current Blake students aren't old enough to know Alicia, said race chairwoman Lisa Lomke. Despite an ambitious outreach campaign involving the use of Facebook and advertising on Blake's TV channel, "registration seems a little slow," Lomke said.

About 750 people participated in the first race, Lomke said. Now, she's hoping for between 100 and 200.

"It might end up being the last one," Lomke said. "Kids don't have that attachment."

The race "keeps Alicia's memory alive," she said.

Betancourt's mother, Lulu Delacre, started the race. Over the years, she gradually shifted control of the event to the Blake PTA; this will be the second year that all proceeds go to the after-prom event. While Delacre still attends races and works with Blake, particularly for the scholarship program she launched, organizing and executing the race was too much work, she said.

Delacre, an author and illustrator of more than 30 children books, wrote "Alicia Afterimage" as a way to heal from the loss of her daughter. The book, which details multiple perspectives from Alicia's family and friends following her death, is meant to help teenagers and adults of all backgrounds identify with at least one the characters in the book, Delacre told The Gazette in December. Book proceeds go to the Alicia Betancourt Prize for Excellence in the Arts.

The scholarship provides funding for female Blake students who have shown an interest in visual arts or dance.

While the race no longer funds scholarships, awareness for teen driver safety is still a goal, Delacre said. And the after-prom also serves an important role, she said.

"The day of prom is the day where a lot of teens go elsewhere to have drinks," Delacre said. "That's a risk factor. … The more teens [at the after-prom], the less teens are out on the road."

Blake Principal Carole Goodman said in an e-mail that the Blake after-prom helps promote safe streets.

"One of the benefits of after-prom is that it is a parent-run evening devoted to activities to keep kids in a safe environment on a potentially dangerous evening," Goodman said. "As a drug- and alcohol-free event, we have had fewer potentially tragic events and dangerous situations for teenagers on prom night."

The fifth-annual Race for a Dream will take place Sunday at James Hubert Blake High School, 300 Norwood Road in Silver Spring. Registration begins 9 a.m. and the race starts 10 a.m. The registration fee is $10 through Friday and $20 on race day. The fee includes a Race for a Dream T-shirt.