Every year in the Northern suburb of Anoka, the Halloween capital of the world, they put on a party in celebration of Halloween. The city goes all out for this celebration, that stretches for almost 2 weeks. They have a little people parade, a light parade, and a grand day parade. The grand day parade has over 200 floats and bands in it every year. Thousands of people line the streets to watch the parade and be part of the fun.
Just before the Grand day parade on the last Saturday in October, there is a 5K run, and a 1 mile fitness walk, called the Anoka gray ghost. What makes this run unique and fun is that most of the runners are dressed in costumes. Finding a Halloween costume that makes good running gear is not easy, but most runners come up with some type of costume. Many are very creative . It's not often that you see several thousand people in costumes running through the streets of a small town.
There is an interesting story about the name, The Gray Ghost. The story goes that a local Veterinarian from Anoka was seen running through Forest Hill Cemetery, in a gray sweat suit. Two women saw him and thought he was an escapee from the state hospital, and called the police. After that he was always known as the Gray Ghost. The veterinarian, William Andberg, was a great athlete in his own right, he started running when he was 55 years old. He set more than 30 world and national record for runners in the 50 to 90 year old class. At age 65 he set a masters world record of a 4:59 mile. The gray ghost was the one that got this race going in the mid 80's, he even donated his own trophies with new inscriptions for the winners. He passed away in December of 2007 at 96 years old.
The run starts at 12:50 pm. I have been to many of the runs and parades. The weather in Anoka can be very different year to year. You need to check the weather before the run, it can 10 degrees or it can be 70 degrees.
The cost to run is $20 if registered before the day of the run. If you finish, you get a long sleeve mock turtleneck shirt with the year and the picture for that year silk screened on it. They also have trophies for top 3 finishes in 9 different divisions for men and women. There is a division for 12 and under, all the way up to 80 plus. Awards are also given for the top 5 individual costumes and the top 5 group costumes.
If you have not participated in the Anoka gray ghost, you should give it a try in the future. Even when the weather is not so good, it's still a great time.
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