Community Corner

Hatboro 5K Rewards Fastest, Best Costumed

The Hatboro YMCA's seventh annual Skeleton Skurry 5K run and one-mile walk is slated for Saturday.

Who needs a costume party when you can get decked out - Halloween style - and race (or walk briskly) through Hatboro?

And, instead of packing on pounds with fattening snacks at said party, participants in the Hatboro Area YMCA’s seventh annual Skeleton Skurry 5K run and one-mile walk can instead help to fatten up the nonprofit organization’s fundraising efforts. 

Helen Oden, the Hatboro Y’s wellness director, said she expects 700 or more people to put their feet to the pavement Saturday to raise $10,000 as the biggest revenue-generating event for the Y’s annual campaign.

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“It helps families and individuals and kids be a part of the Y even if they can’t financially afford it,” Oden said of how the funds are used. 

Hatboro Y Executive Director Gary Chamberlain said last year 743 individuals received financial assistance - or partially subsidized membership and program offerings - valued at $221,334 even though the annual campaign only netted $131,000.

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A portion of funds raised also benefit Main Street Hatboro for the borough’s downtown revitalization, Chamberlain said.

“From the very beginning we actually collaborated with Main Street Hatboro. Over the years the Y’s taken on a bigger role,” Chamberlain said, adding that since participants “go through Hatboro,” the underlying idea is to “bring people to Main Street Hatboro.”

Main Street Manager Stephen Barth said working with the Hatboro YMCA “reinforces the positive results a community can achieve by working together.”

Barth said the funds generated from the Skeleton Skurry are used for the “betterment of the entire Hatboro community.”

“While the funds are not specifically earmarked for a particular project, they do support grant writing on behalf of the community for historic preservation, downtown improvements and new signage,” Barth said.

If community fundraising is not reason enough to lace up your sneaks, Chamberlain said adults and children alike who come in costume can vie for best; scariest; and funniest costume, as well as best family themed; and best group themed costumes.

“We ask people to make themselves known to the judges table,” Chamberlain said, adding that judging is done before the race gets underway.

Certainly with all the calories burned from this Saturday morning run, fattening party foods may not be so bad after all.

If you go

Registration for the Hatboro Area YMCA’s seventh annual Skeleton Skurry 5K run and one-mile walk gets underway Saturday at 8 a.m. at Pennypack Elementary School, 130 Spring Ave., in Hatboro. The race begins at 9:30 a.m. For pricing and other information, see attached PDFs, or click here to view information on Patch’s events calendar. 


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