Newark – PAWS for People, the Newark-based pet therapy organization, announces its annual Wag & Walkathon, September 17 – October 17. This year the month-long cumulative marathon will be TOTALLY VIRTUAL! Last year the cumulative marathon concept replaced PAWS’ traditional Wag-n- Walk & 5K Run which was popular and successful for 10 years. This year, due to COVID-19 restrictions, the entire event will be completely virtual from start to finish including Facebook Live Step Off & Cross the Finish Line Celebrations and lots of fun activities in between.
The cumulative marathon concept lets competitors log in their 26.2 miles anytime, at their own pace, throughout the month. Participants can walk on their own, with a pet, or in “social distance fashion” with friends. The Wag & Walkathon will feature a month of online contests and challenges as well as virtual vendors. Doggie contests will include cutest pet photo, funniest pet video, best trick video and more; The Walkathon will include contests in the areas of mileage tracking, fundraising, and team-building.
“Last year’s first Wag & Walkathon was extremely successful,” said Lynne Robinson, executive director of PAWS for People, in a statement. “We were unsure how the public would respond to a cumulative marathon, but people truly enjoyed the combination of healthy activity and making a difference! This has been a challenging year due to the pandemic, and many of our programs were put on hold or transitioned to a virtual format. This event is critical to enabling us to fund our life-changing pet therapy programs.”
The registration fee for the Wag & Walkathon is $20 for adults (13 and over) and $10 for children (12 and under). To register or for details, please visit www.pawsforpeople.org/walkathon or call (302) 351-5622.
