Mother’s Day Run to returns to Fort St. John

FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. — The Mother’s Day Run/Walk is returning to Fort St. John next month, with a new organization at the helm.

The North Peace Pregnancy Care Centre will now oversee the event. The race was begun by the Fort St. John Rotary Club back in 2012, who organized the first run in 2013. 

The Fort St. John Women’s Resource Society took over managing the run in 2024, with the 2025 Mother’s Day Run cancelled due to “economic challenges.”

Linda Unrau, executive director of North Peace Pregnancy Care, described putting the event together as a “big learning curve” when speaking to Energeticcity.ca.

“I had clients actually upset that it was cancelled because it was the one run walk that they like to participate in,” Unrau said. “I’m like ‘okay, that lands differently for me, because it’s something our community is asking for.’”

“I reached out to [the] women’s resource [society] and had a conversation and said ‘are you guys planning on running the Mother’s Day run/walk? If so great, how can we support you, [and] if not, would you be willing to hand it over to us?’ and they handed it over to us and said ‘we are not going to run it anymore.’”

Among the big changes will be the event’s date: Saturday, May 9th, the day before Mother’s Day.

Other changes include a switch in venue, with Kin Park substituting for Surerus Park, and a barbecue with hot dogs and hamburgers replacing the traditional pancake breakfast.

Unrau said the barbecue will be by donation, as she wants the event to “be open to the whole community.” There will also be some children’s activities, including face painting. 

She added the date change was because some mothers might want their Mother’s Day to be one to unwind.

“As a mother, I only ran it one year,” Unrau said. “It’s a run I would have done every year if it had been on Saturday, just because I like my Sunday morning [to] relax. For me, as a runner, Saturday just made more sense.”

The event will continue its list of scheduled events: a five and 10-kilometre run and walk, as well as a kids’ one-kilometre fun run.

Fees until May 8th are $35 for the five-kilometre race, $40 for the 10-kilometre race. The fun run will be free for children. Fees increase by $5 for late registration on Saturday, May 9th.

The 2026 Mother’s Day Run/Walk happens on Saturday, May 8th, with late registration beginning at 8 a.m. 

The 10-kilometre race begins at 9:45 a.m., with the five-kilometre race beginning at 10 a.m. and the one-kilometre kids’ race will run at 10:30 a.m.

More information is available on the event’s website.