Registration now open for annual Bay Trail Fun Run

SANDPOINT — It’s time to lace up those running shoes and hit the trail — the Pend d’Oreille Bay Trail — for the sixth annual Bay Trail Fun Run.

Registration is now open for participants to sign up online to run or walk in this popular community event on Sunday, June 10. Choose between 5K or 10K distances along stunning trails that hug the shores of Lake Pend Oreille and Sand Creek in Sandpoint.

Billed as one of the prettiest runs in the Northwest, the Bay Trail Fun Run is both a competitive, timed run and a family friendly run/walk. The event features awards for top finishers in every age group and kids 12 and under are free but must register to participate.

Hosted by the Friends of the Pend d’Oreille Bay Trail, Trinity at City Beach Restaurant and the Kalispel Tribe of Indians. Proceeds from the race will support efforts to protect and extend the Pend d’Oreille Bay Trail — a public, non-motorized trail, connecting the communities of Sandpoint and Ponderay.

The trail is currently open to the public to enjoy up to the private property fence — approximately 1.5 miles from the trailhead — and will serve as part of the 5K and 10K course for the Bay Trail Fun Run.

The work continues on the Pend d’Oreille Bay Trail Project with plans to continue the trail eastward towards Kootenai, to install an underpass under the railroad tracks into Ponderay and to install easier access to the water and interpretive signage along the trail.

Support the Friends’ efforts and experience the beauty of the Pend d’Oreille Bay and Sand Creek Trails, by registering for the 6th Annual Bay Trail Fun Run. The race provides participants with beautiful views of the lake, creek or mountains and follows an almost entirely flat trail that varies from paved to dirt and back again.

This year’s race once again features professional chip timing and a professionally measured course as well as t-shirts, water bottles, coupons for Trinity Restaurant and other freebies for all registered participants as supplies last. An awards ceremony begins at 10 am as age categories close.

Registration for the Bay Trail Fun Run is currently open online at www.pobtrail.org. Participants can also register by mailing in a registration form found at various locations around town, or by request.

A reduced registration price of $25 is available until June 8. After June 8, the price increases to $30. Registration will be available at the Packet Pickup Party at Trinity’s from 5-7 p.m., Saturday, June 9 and from 7 to 8:45 a.m. under the tents at the starting line on the morning of the race. To ensure your correct T-shirt size, participants are encouraged to sign up as soon as possible.

Strollers are permitted in this race and walkers are encouraged to register. Although dogs are usually welcome along the trail, for safety purposes, no dogs will be allowed during the race.

To donate to the Friends, to request a mail-in registration form, to volunteer to help with the event or for more information about the Bay Trail Fun Run please go to pobtrail.org, call 208-946-7586 or email friends@pobtrail.org.