The Great Marsh Institute (GMI) in Elverson is teaming up with ChesCo Search Dogs to present the first Great Marsh Mud Mosey on Saturday, April 13, beginning at 10 a.m. The event, which will feature a 5K run and 1-mile walk, will be held rain or shine.

The 5K course will be relatively flat but will pass through marsh ponds on the property, alongside wooded boundaries and past hundreds of acres of farmland before finishing on a paved road. "(The 5K) will run through the whole property. Some of it will be pretty muddy," said Mijka Smith, GMI administrative assistant.  

ChesCo Search Dogs conducts practice search missions on the GMI property, which is how the partnership came about. "They have used our property for a number of years to train their search dogs," Smith said. "They got in touch with Lori Moore, our program director, and discussed doing an event together."

"They are very generous with allowing us to use their property. We train there every Sunday," added ChesCo Search Dogs president Keith Studnick, event organizer, who noted that his dog, Hunter, will be the honorary starter of the 5K race. "We will have dogs doing demonstrations for those that participate in the run/walk at the conclusion of the (event)."

The 5K race will be timed, and the first-place male and female runners will receive a gift card to a running store. "The property is so unique that depending on the conditions of the marsh, we may have a little bit more or less than a 5K," Studnick noted. "We may have to juggle the course if the ponds overflow."

Studnick said that runners will enjoy the diverse terrain. "The last one-third of the race will be muddy. It's part of the charm," he stated. "We were trying to do something different. Being able to run a race on private property, you don't ... have to close the roads down. People will enjoy it."

Post-race activities will include live music by Dave Loves Donna and educational information by environmental biologists on the flora and fauna of the property. The Epicurean Garage food truck will also be on hand. "We want to keep a festival atmosphere for anyone who wants to stay," said Studnick, noting that participants will also have an opportunity to win prizes.

Because parking is limited, the walk and run can only accommodate 100 participants. Personal pets will not be permitted.

GMI is located at 34 Moores Road, Elverson. For more information and to register, visit http://www.runsignup.com/Race/PA/Elverson/GreatMarshMudMosey. Registration proceeds will benefit both organizations. To learn more about GMI, visit http://www.greatmarshinstitute.org.

ChesCo Search Dogs is an all-volunteer nonprofit organization dedicated to training and providing trained K-9 teams to help find missing and lost persons and to detect human remains. ChesCo Search Dogs has more than 20 K-9s and their handlers in various stages of training who provide free ground search services to locate lost or missing persons in Chester County and throughout eastern Pennsylvania, New Jersey and northern Delaware.

"A lot of times the person is missing but not lost, and there is no contact. We go out regardless," Studnick explained. "We do not (get involved with) criminal activity. We are looking for people who are not trying to run away. Police dogs are looking for people who may not want to be found."

Studnick emphasized that the team only goes out to search when requested by a law enforcement agency. "It could be anyone who has jurisdiction, local police, state police, a state game warden or federal park ranger. We can't go out for families," he said, noting that the team had 22 calls in 2023, with three this year to date.

Past assignments have included searching for youngsters with autism, elderly residents with dementia or Alzheimer's or hikers lost in the woods. The teams are also involved with finding those who are deceased, including those people who have died by suicide.

The searchers always hope to find the missing person alive. "You want to help the community by finding that missing person, hopefully alive, and getting them home," Studnick stated.

To learn more, visit http://www.chescosearch.org or http://www.facebook.com/ChesCoSearchDogs.