Sports

The Alaska Run for Women is Saturday, and here’s how you can sign up

It’s time to talk times and other numbers as the Alaska Run for Women approaches.

For starters, the final prerace bib pickup is Thursday from 4-7 p.m. at the University Center. If you don’t have your bib by the end of Thursday, you’ll need to get it Saturday morning before the race begins, while the crowd is growing.

Runners and walkers can also sign up for the popular all-women’s event — a timed 5-miler, an untimed 5-miler and an untimed 1-miler — during the Thursday event.

For runners who want to run the timed 5-mile race, there are two other times of note:

— 5 p.m. Thursday. That’s the deadline for online registration at the race website, www.akrfw.org.

— 27:31. That’s the time to beat if you want to steal the course record from defending champion Rosie Brennan, who set the record of 27 minutes, 31 seconds last year in her Run for Women debut.

For runners and walkers who want to participate in the annual fundraiser for breast cancer but are interested in the untimed 1-mile event or the untimed 5-mile event, here are two other times of note:

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— 5 p.m. Friday. That’s the deadline for online registration for either untimed event.

— 6:45-8 a.m. Saturday. That’s your absolute last chance to register, and you have to do it in person during the bib-pickup time frame at Mulcahy Stadium.

Some more times and numbers of note:

The 1-mile event starts Saturday at 8:30 a.m., followed by the 5-mile timed race at 8:45 a.m., the 5-mile untimed event at 9:05 a.m. and the untimed 5-mile party wave at 9:20 a.m.

Prerace yoga is scheduled to begin at 7:30 a.m., and postrace Zumba is scheduled to begin at 10:15 a.m.

As of Wednesday evening, 3,771 people had signed up to participate, and they had donated a total of $122,211. The race asks for donations rather than entry fees, with a suggested donation of $25; the average donation this year has been about $32.

Last year’s race drew 5,201 participants who donated $133,633.

First held in 1993, the Run for Women is one of Alaska’s biggest footraces, even though it only draws from half of the population. Money raised helps provide mammograms and benefits a number of Alaska-based charities that address breast cancer and women’s health care.

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