Sweet Home’s second annual Sweetheart Run will be held at 10 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 13, with a start and finish at Sankey Park.
The event includes a one-mile run for children, followed by 5K and 10K competitions that will start at 10:30.
Participants who sign up early enough will get not only T-shirts but running gloves, organizer Pat Gray said. She said that planners are hoping for 200 runners this year, after the inaugural race attracted 179 runners and walkers, and 40 children.
Vendors will offer Valentine-oriented wares, along with an expected appearance by Running Princess of Corvallis, which offers specialized running gear for women and a representative of RunOregon blog. Race photos specialist Gordon Cully of Woodburn-based GCC Photography has also committed to returning this year, Gray said.
In addition to a $2,000 contribution from the Siletz Tribe, which is the event’s major sponsor, Gray said a sizeable number of local merchants have donated prizes for raffles following the race.
This year’s 10K course will take runners through Duck Hollow, off Long Street at 40th Avenue, then return west on Long to 18th Avenue, where they will run to Elm Street and then follow the South Hills (“Railroad”) Trail to Fifth Avenue before returning east on Elm to Sankey Park.
Gray emphasized that the races are family-friendly and “more “Valentine-oriented.” She said organizers are working on having a biscuits-and-gravy brunch available free to runners and at a cost to anyone else who’s interested.
The couples/family emphasis is reflected in the registration costs: $30 per individual or $50 per couple for the 5K by Feb. 12 and $40/$60 on race day; $40 per individual or $60 per couple for the 10K by Feb. 12 or $50/$70 on race day; and half price for members of teams.
Proceeds go to scholarships for the Boys & Girls Club summer program and funding for that program’s transportation needs, and for the city parks program.
She said 13 children received scholarships last year and $600 was donated to bus 70 summer program participants to events. Also, sound equipment for the Movies in the Park program was purchased, she said.
She said organizers hope to not only fund more Boys & Girls Club program needs, but to fund improvements to city parks this summer, including, possibly, equipment.
To learn more about the race, visit http://shsweetheartrun.weebly.com/ or call (541) 367-8113.