Fun Run Sees Largest Group in a Few Years

The Sixth Installation of Malta Parks and Recreation's Color Fun Run returned to it's normal time slot last Saturday, June 3, at 9 a.m.

"It was just fun to have a fun family event and have a lot of participants," Wright said. "It was great."

The run had a total of 73 participants, the most that Malta's Parks and Recreation Department has had post-2020.

"We had 37 5k runners and 36 mile runners," Parks and Rec Director Sally Wright told the PCN. "We had amazing booth people. We had Head Start, the Phillips County Hospital, Malta City Lifeguards, Polish to Perfection, the ReAct club, Hi-Line Market, and a few sponsors that helped out including First State Bank, Albertsons, and Coffee Central."

Running the 5K, Malta's Tyler Bain crossed the finish line first, followed by Malta's Abby Northrup, and third was Malta's Lathan Crossland.

Phillips County Hospital's (PCH) booth themed "Back to the 80's," was the winning booth. PCH won the booth contest for the fourth straight year.

Last year's event was held on a Friday night, because the Parks and Rec Directors were trying to figure out if another time would've helped attendance due to the cooler weather.

"This year proved that we did the right thing (by going back to Saturday morning)," she said.

She gave credit to her son Kendrik Wright, who was a part of the set up crew. Rena Larsen ran around and took photos for the department, so that they could have file photos.

"The last few years we haven't been able to get pictures because we were stuck at the park, starting and finishing races," Wright said. "It was nice to have the setup crew to setup and tear down, and have Rena as the photographer."

The route was the same as it has been for the past two years, starting at Riverview Park, went back on the M-Trail, out by the City Shop, across the highway and Short Oil Road, down to the skate park, back onto Central Avenue to go across the bridge to the Hi-Line Market and down 8th Street to the finish line behind the high school.

Prior to the event, Malta was predicted to have a rainy day, something that triggered many people to ask if the event was still on.

"I said, it doesn't matter rain or shine, we are going to be there," Wright said.

Their commitment was rewarded with a rain-free, yet humid start to the event.

"God said, it is going to happen, so it happened," Wright said. "It was probably the best morning ever. It wasn't too hot, it wasn't too cold. It was perfect."

The event featured a lower price because the event is not a fundraiser, as it was in the initial years. The cost was $10 for adults 18 and over, $5 for children ages six to 17, and free for children five and under. T-Shirts were available for an additional $18. The costs were to cover the cost of color, headbands, and sunglasses.

"The prices were super affordable and I think that helped with this year's event," Wright said.

Malta Parks and Recreation is currently accepting sign ups for Skateboarding, Tumbling and Gymnastics, Martial Arts, Tennis, Volleyball Camp, Dance Clinic and Art in the Park. For More info call Malta Parks and Rec at 654-2731.