Hundreds of people laced up their tennis shoes and hit the pavement downtown Great Falls for the 39th Annual Ice Breaker Road Race Sunday afternoon.
Runners of all ages lined up to race in either the 5-mile, 3-mile, or 1-mile portion of the race.
While many seemed picture perfect, some are facing challenges.
Louise Mitchell, 85, is battling ovarian cancer for the second time.
But she isn’t letting that or her age hold her back.
“I’ve been running since I was 48 years old and I’ve run the Ice Breakers, I don’t know how many times, at least 20 times,” said Mitchell.
But she’s not just doing this for her health, she’s doing it to help others too.
“I hope I inspire people to get out and exercise. I don’t need a cane. I don’t need a walker. I don’t need the rest home. The reason why you run and exercise is to stay out of the rest home.”
Mitchell has participated in 21 marathons and tries to get in at least 20 miles a week.
In between the different Ice Breaker races, a drumming group performed in the Civic Center to provide entertainment to the runners and their families.
Hibikiya is an authentic Japanese Taiko drumming group from Lethbridge, Alberta.
The group performs original Japanese Taiko, which they learned from Lethbridge’s sister city in Japan.
They were there as a way to bridge the gap between the border.
“Hibikiya is a great way to kind of show what kind of international relations we can grow and the type of people that get to work with us,” said Brandy Old, the director of relations for Great Falls with Lethbridge Twinning Society.
Members of the Lethbridge Twinning Society have participated in the road race since 2006.
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