Over 1,200 participants enjoyed the PCN Women’s Fun Run just in time for Mother’s Day at the Lindsay Thurber Highschool running track. Women and girls of all ages had the option of running either ten, five, or three kilometers. Children as young as three weeks old participated in a 100-meter diaper dash with assistance of their moms, of course.

The run has always been a day about fun for women and girls.

“When I started this eight years ago, I wanted to see women and little girls more active. I have a big love of seeing kids active and that’s how it started…” said Val Jensen, race director, “I just want to see little girls realize at a young age that it’s fun to run, and it’s fun to win a race.”

This year, the run’s charity of choice was the Mustard Seed and money from racers and participating businesses went towards the Mustard Seed’s school lunch program.

“In Red Deer, every year the Mustard Seed makes 56,000 lunches. All the money that we raise here today will be going towards that program. We don’t know what the tally is, but we’re excited to see what we’ve got coming in.”

Jensen thought the turn out for the event was among their biggest yet and anticipates a large sum being handed over to the Mustard Seed.

Although the event boasted terrific sunny weather after many weeks of intermittent snow and rain, the gusting wind made the event a little more difficult to set up than anticipated.

“Everybody has brought friends. I think the vibe is really good. We had a lot of troubles setting up in the wind yesterday, we had a few tents roll across. It was tough but again my volunteers, my family we just kept chasing, putting down, and it all came together because we as a community came together.”

There were a few new races and additions made for the run. For the first time, men and boys were able to participate in a three-kilometer family run and a community diaper dash was hosted as a last minute addition to boost fundraising. Diapers were donned and stylized at the starting line where runners participated in an unconventional race.

“We had a community diaper dash and to get in that they needed to raise one thousand dollars. They didn’t just run they had to butter bread, put it in a Ziploc, they were wearing mitts, and they had to deliver it to the lunch bins at the end of the line.”

Despite the wind, diaper-worn embarrassment, the event had a great turnout. Participating runners were gifted with fresh flowers, and smiles shared on the track will likely be shared at school too as kids learn with a belly full of healthy food.