11th annual Demon Dash in Washington Saturday

Local runners are encouraged to come out for the 11th annual Demon Dash on Saturday, May 11.

Teri Hartzler is in charge of the fun run and said the decision to create the event came about years ago because of the divide between the community about building a new high school. She wanted to create something that would bring the community together and started as a 5K.

Eventually, it turned into a 4-mile journey around town with a course that goes past every school. New this year is a 1-mile obstacle course that will circle around the Washington High School building.

'After a few years it's fun to do something different,” she said.

The obstacle course will be open to people of all ages and will include obstacles like hurdles, agility rings and tunnels to crawl through. Registration for the run/walk can be taken care of on Saturday at the High School beginning at 8 a.m. with the run/walk to begin at 9 a.m.

The run/walk is open to people of all ages and abilities and will be timed for those who wish to keep track, but is otherwise considered a fun run and is not a race nor will awards be given.

Half of the proceeds raised will go to the Y for youth programs and the other half will be split four ways among the schools to be used to purchase equipment for the PE programs. After the race, participants can go inside the high school and have breakfast made by the high school parent-teacher organization (PTO) and continue to socialize.

Last year about 150 people participated, despite its being 18 degrees outside, and this year Hartzler is hoping more people come out. She said the more people who participate, the more financial support that can be offered to the programs.

'It's promoting our community and our support we have within this community and for our schools and for our youth,” she said. 'It's supporting our youth through physical education and social interaction.”