Mark your calendars for the first ever 5k “Mutt Strut” dog walk at the Genesee County Park on Sunday April 19, 2020.
Registration is now open for 100 people and their mutts. Entry fee is $30 and for $80 the whole family can participate. All proceeds go to Volunteer for Animals.
To register online visit:
Check in is at 9:00a.m. and the race starts at 10:00a.m.
The idea for this first time event came about while Joshua Finn was training to participate in the Buffalo Half Marathon this past year.
“I did a lot of extra training for that,” says Finn.
During his training, Finn had a very high strung puppy, Charlotte, who is now a year and a half old.
“To kill two birds with one stone, I started bringing her with me on runs and we just clicked well. I always wanted to have a blond female running partner and this is what I got.”
Charlotte eventually started running two miles, then three. Eventually six miles.
“If she saw me grab my headphones and a leash , she went nuts.”
After this experience, Finn thought it would be cool to do a 5k with dogs and a bunch of people. One night, Finn’s wife Shari was on the phone with her best friend from college, Adrienne Penders, who has been doing rescue work for 20 years and owns her own mobile grooming business, Matted Mutts Pet Grooming.
After Shari told Adrienne of Finn’s idea, she hopped in the shower where she does all her best thinking, and thought how can I give back.
Adrienne got the ball rolling quickly after she reached out to the folks who do the ACORNS race at the Genesee County Park, Volunteer for Animals and then met with the park.
“After jumping through a lot of hoops, I got them to approve it after a bunch of meetings,” says Adrienne.
Adrienne and her boyfriend Jon Wright then started doing lots of paper work and making flyers, creating a Facebook page and a website.
“So far we’ve got a lot of people sponsoring and donating, this is a win win, you get to walk with your dog and donate to the animals that need it.”
Adrienne says they can only have dogs who get along with other dogs and are good with children.
“We have to have precautions, everyone thinks their dogs are wonderful, but sometimes when you get into a close encounter with 50 dogs and with kids roaming around, sometimes dogs act differently.”
Adrienne says she will have her doggie bouncer Tori Ganino, owner of Calling All Dogs, on site during check in along with a veterinarian and an ambulance for the safety of all who participate in the race. Tori will also assist people and show them how to control their dog.
There will be food served, the dogs get a bandanna and a wag bag and the humans get a t-shirt from the first ever “Mutt Strut”
To learn more about the “Mutt Strut” and how to register, you can also call Matted Mutts Mobile Grooming at 585-813-5951
