JOHN DAY — The Blue Mountain Hospice Center’s annual Strut, Stride, Straddle and Stroll/Hilton Half Marathon will return Saturday, Sept. 10, with its first full-size half marathon in almost three years.

In addition to the half marathon, the event features footraces of varying distances and a 13-mile bicycle race.

According to organizer Meredith Thomas, the annual event, which got its start about 20 years ago, is one of the hospice center’s most significant fundraisers.

Thomas said the event was dubbed the Hilton Half Marathon about five years ago in memory of T.R. Hilton, a longtime ambulance crew director at the hospital.

Thomas said the money collected from the fundraiser will help offset the cost of hospice care that some insurance companies do not cover.

Hospice care is a type of health care that helps terminally ill patients with pain and other symptoms and prioritizes comfort as they reach the end of their life.

Typically, Thomas said, it is not known that insurance may not cover hospice care until the patient has died. As a result, Thomas said, the hospice service, a nonprofit organization, is left with having to tell the family the unfortunate news.

The purpose of the fundraiser, she said, is to enable the hospice care center to avoid these situations altogether.

“The last thing we want is for a family to have to deal with a bill from us,” she said.

The money hospice raises, she said, allows them to pay the insurance directly so the families can focus on the grief process.

WHAT: Blue Mountain Hospice Center’s annual Strut, Stride, Straddle and Stroll/Hilton Half Marathon

WHERE: All races start from Blue Mountain Hospice parking lot, located at 422 W. Main Street in John Day

WHEN: Saturday, Sept. 10, at 7 a.m. with all races except for the half-marathon kicking off at 8 a.m. Transportation for Hilton Half Marathon leaves at 6:30 a.m.

RACES:

Stroll (1.5 miles): Beginning at the hospice parking lot on Main Street, the race moves west and turns on Third Street near Les Schwab Tires, continues past the Grant County Fairgrounds and then loops back to Main Street, heading west back to the hospice parking lot.

Strut (4 miles): Heads east to Highway 395 (Canyon Boulevard), then south past the Canyon City gas station before cutting over to Humbolt Street and looping back to the hospice parking lot.

Stride (6 miles): Moves west out of John Day on Highway 26 to Luce Creek Road (locally known as the “dump road”) and loops back to the hospice parking lot in John Day.

Straddle (13-mile bike ride ): Heads east on Highway 26 towards Prairie City, then turns around halfway at Pine Creek Road and heads west back to the hospice parking lot.

Hilton Half Marathon: The half marathon covers a little over 13 miles, starting in Prairie City at the water station on Pine Creek Road and heading west on Highway 26, ending at the hospice parking lot.

Runners in the Hilton Half Marathon will take a shuttle to the water station in Prairie City that leaves from the hospice parking lot at 6:30 a.m.

Registration:

$20 adult

$15 child

$75 per family, up to eight

$150 per group/team of eight or more

Pre-registration forms can be downloaded at: https://tinyurl.com/3mvkhruj

The registration forms can be mailed to the Blue Mountain Home Health and Hospice Center at 422 W. Main St., John Day, OR 97845, or they can be dropped off at the center until Sept. 8.

There is an additional $5 fee for same-day registration.

For more information, call Meredith Thomas at 541-575-1648 or email her at mthomas@bluemountainhospital.or.