Yellowknife’s annual mud run to raise money for cancer care equipment returns on September 13 at the Yellowknife Ski Club.
The 2025 CIBC Run for Our Lives Mud Run is helping to fundraise for Stanton Territorial Hospital cancer equipment worth $600,000 – a breast ultrasound machine, two automated endoscope preprocessors, and a colposcope examination chair (more on these later).
The Stanton Territorial Hospital Foundation, which hosts the fundraising event, hopes this year’s mud run will put them $100,000 closer to their goal. The 2024 mud run brought in $116,000.
To encourage more people to fundraise and then complete the family-friendly obstacle course, organizers have lowered registration fees this year.
Registration for teams and individuals is open online. The early bird rate until the end of August is $50 for adults and $25 for youth aged four to 17. Starting in September, registration fees will increase to $100 for adults and $75 for youth.
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“It’s not just your average fun run, where you hit the streets and go for a run. You can expect to see mud pits, walls to climb, challenges and, of course, lots of laughs every year,” said Patty Olexin-Lang, the foundation’s executive director.
The course won’t be too hard though – they’ve had participants aged four to 84 take part in past years, and there’s always the option to go around obstacles if you need to.
“Every year, when we’re setting up the obstacles, we always have to think about, oh, is this going to be too hard for the kids? Should we have a kid version of this?” Olexin-Lang said.
“But then, sure enough, every year on race day, those kids are showing up those adults like you would not believe. They’re the ones that are so nimble and able to go through those obstacles.”
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Want a Yeti cooler or trip for two to Edmonton?
If you’re just in it for the T-shirt, you’ll need to raise at least $150 this year to get one.
Prizes only get better from there. Participants who raise more than $150 will also receive a waterproof JBL speaker or Yeti bottle, while people who raise mor than $2,000 will get a Yeti Roadie 45 cooler, the speaker or bottle and a T-shirt.
There will also be prizes this year for the highest fundraisers, like a return trip for two to Edmonton.
During the event, Yellowknife Motors will host a fundraising barbecue, with proceeds from hotdog and hamburger sales going toward the cause.
What are we fundraising for?
The Stanton Territorial Hospital Foundation is in the second year of a $600,000 campaign to purchase some key pieces of cancer care equipment.
The first piece is a breast ultrasound machine, which costs about $400,000, and will help support diagnostics for very dense breast tissue.
Having one of these machines will mean people won’t have to travel to Alberta for full breast ultrasounds, and it will complement the features of a new digital breast mammography machine for which the foundation also helped raise money.
“The new mammography machine is amazing. It’s the gold star of mammographies. But if you’re someone with the type of breast that the machine cannot pick up a lump, then you’re going to need some extra ultrasounds,” explained Olexin-Lang.
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The foundation also wants to buy two automated endoscope reprocessors, which cost about $100,000 each.
Reprocessors sterilize scopes that are used to diagnose colorectal, stomach, esophageal and lung cancers.
“The actual reprocessor helps prevent infections and reduces waiting times between procedures,” Olexin-Lang said.
Lastly, the colposcope examination chair – which rings in at $5,000 – helps provide comfort and proper positioning during a colposcopy procedure following an abnormal pap test result.
“Run for Our Lives depends on sponsors and participant donations to meet our goals,” Olexin-Lang said.
“In the past, we’ve had a lot of participants that have just paid the fee and just gone out and enjoyed the day. Well, we appreciate that, absolutely.
“If you can put in a little bit of effort in the next month and get some donations, that’s even better.”
Scott Letkeman contributed reporting.
