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. [caption id="attachment_202630" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] A photo from the 2019 PAWS for People Wag & Walk-a-thon | PHOTO C/O PAWS for People[/caption] 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.