Stanfield is still welcoming mud, monsters and ghouls this Saturday for its first Stanfield Creepy Crawl.
An accidental deletion on the city’s Facebook page put the Halloween-themed, obstacle course 5K run in question, but organizers said the event will still take place.
“It’s definitely still happening,” Liz Sperr said Friday. “We’re pretty excited.”
The Creepy Crawl begins at 5 p.m. at the Stanfield City Yard, about a quarter of a mile outside of Stanfield. Runners are encouraged to wear costumes while taking on at least 17 different obstacles to climb, crawl, splash and jump through local farming land along the Umatilla River to finish the course.
The idea came from discussions about the second annual Stanfield Fall Festival, scheduled for Oct. 25.
“We started to plan the Fall Festival because of how well it went last year, and we were afraid a fun run might be too much to have on the same night,” organizer Cecili Martin said. “We decided to have it a week early, make it ages 15 and up and have it be its own event. It evolved into a bonfire and vendors and an obstacle course.”
In addition to the run itself, the event will include a costume contest, Monster Bash party, bonfire, and live entertainment. All volunteers and organizers will be in costume, and both spectators and runners are encouraged to don ghoulish and spooky costumes as well. Costume contest prizes will also be awarded during the Monster Bash after the race, and medals for the fastest runners will also be awarded. Heaters will be set up in addition to the bonfire, but attendees are encouraged to dress warm in case the evening gets cold.
The Stanfield Fire Department will have a Hazmat station set up for runners to change and shower after finishing the course. Runners will receive a T-shirt with the slogan “I came, I crawled, I conquered,” but spectators and family members will have the option to purchase spectator T-shirts with “They came. They crawled. They conquered. I watched.”
“The more people we get, the more fun everybody is going to have,” said Sperr.
So far, about 70 people have signed up for the run. Late registration is still available for $40. Registration will be available the day of the race as well, but, although organizers ordered extra T-shirts, they cannot guarantee size availability for day-of registrations.
“It should be a lot of fun,” Sperr said. “I hope everyone comes back next year and spreads the word.”
For more information or to register, visit the event’s website.
