HELENA — Helena’s newest foot race, Just For The Helena Of It, will be coming to town this October. The race was created by 4 Helena friends, who call themselves the Treasure State Runners.
The creation of the race began when the group of women had a friend from Florida come to town. After searches for a half marathon during their time frame came up dry. The ladies decided to make their own, complete with medals and a finish line ribbon. After the fun they had, they then decided to take it a step further and turn their efforts towards creating an official half marathon for all.
“We said, ‘What the heck? Let's just make our own up,’ So we routed something, ran it a couple times, figured it out. So, when she came to town, we ran this route and when we were running it, we were like, ‘We need to do this again. We need to do this next year,’ And then it kept continuing and we were like, ‘Well, if we're gonna do it, let's go big, let's make it into an actual race, and let's find somebody to benefit and fundraise through for it,’” says Jessica Powell, co-founder of Just For The Helena Of It.
And thus, Just For The Helena Of It was born. The Treasure State Runners is the name of the group as well as the name of their nonprofit organization. They are currently searching for more sponsors for the race.
The race will have the option for a 13.1-mile run and a 3.1-mile run or walk and will take place on October 16th. October also happens to be domestic violence awareness month. After all other race expenses are paid, all the profits will go towards benefiting The Friendship Center, a community organization that aims to address and prevent domestic violence, sexual assault, and stalking.
“So, this group Treasure State Runners, who are choosing to conduct this half marathon and raise funds for us, that's huge to us. The money that comes in from the community is not allocated to any one particular thing, so it allows us to be very fluid and move that money around very easily to where it's most needed in the here and now,” says Eric Parsons, Outreach and Education Coordinator for The Friendship Center.
Just For The Helena Of It will be located in Helena, but the exact route has not yet been announced. If you’d like to stay up to date with the race and announcements you can follow along on their website and social media here: https://runhelena.com/
