Fleet footed keep truckin’ at annual Run-A-Muk

In the running community, the annual Run-A-Muk is a much beloved and fun race. All ages and skill levels are welcome.

So, on Saturday about 300 participants took to Mukilteo’s streets for the Run-A-Muk 5K and 10K, a fundraiser benefiting the Mukilteo Lighthouse Festival.

The races began on 2nd Street across from Rosehill Community Center, with participants choosing between the 5-kilometer, or 3.1-mile, course and the 10K, or 6.2-mile, distance.

The event wasn't limited to serious runners. Participants could run or walk the course at their own pace, and the youngest competitors – children under 6 – had their own 50-yard dash (with help from their parents.)

Run-A-Muk raises money for the Mukilteo Lighthouse Festival Association, the nonprofit organization that puts on the community's annual festival. Organizers hoped this year's race would raise between $5,000 and $7,000, with 100% of the event's profits going to support the festival.

The association was formed in 2004 by Mukilteo civic, service and community groups to continue the tradition of the annual Lighthouse Festival. In addition to organizing the festival, the association seeks to bring the community together and provide partnership opportunities for local service organizations, businesses and individuals.

Saturday's race encountered an unexpected complication just as some of the fastest 5K runners were reaching the finish line.

Power was lost to both the race timing system's router and the visible timing clock as the leading runners crossed the finish line. Organizers scrambled to manually record bib numbers and the order in which runners finished while working to restore the system.

The timing equipment was down for about eight to 10 minutes. During that period, runners who had already crossed the finish line were later recorded by the timing antennas while they remained in the finish area, producing inaccurate finishing times.

Organizers said preliminary results consequently were not accurate for some of the fastest 5K finishers. Times for runners finishing in about 25 minutes or longer were believed to be accurate.

Runners who finished in less than about 25 minutes and believe their preliminary time is incorrect were asked to email their personal recorded time or other information that could help establish their finishing order to [run.mukilteo@yahoo.com](mailto:run.mukilteo@yahoo.com).

Run-A-Muk also included a virtual option for those unable to participate in Saturday's event. Virtual participants could complete either the 5K or 10K distance at their own pace and location, either all at once or in shorter segments.