Stache Dash: Children’s charity kicks off mustache-themed fun run in Liberty Lake

Fake mustaches in place, about 250 people took to the trails Saturday in Liberty Lake in the first-ever Stache Dash, a 5K run to benefit the charity Elevations.

Brothers Bryce and Jerad Park had real mustaches, but they still sported fake ones before the race began, though it was difficult to make them stick.

“He looked (the race) up and convinced me we need to drop $15 on a run in our own backyard,” Jerad Park said. The two frequently participate in races and this one seemed to be for a good cause, Park said.

“It’s kind of a hobby,” he said of road racing.

He prefers entering races rather than simply running by himself. “It gives you a little extra motivation,” he said. “You definitely pull better times, usually.”

Jeri Hughes was there with her husband and son, each upper lip adorned with its own thatch of fake hair. She used to do Bloomsday all the time, she said, but hasn’t been running in a long time.

“I’m shaking off the cobwebs for a good cause,” she said. “I’m walking. The cobwebs are heavy.”

The run was organized by Elevations, a nonprofit that provides resources for children with a variety of physical, occupational and speech therapy needs. The nonprofit was founded in 2012 by physical therapist David Owan, who works for Youthful Horizons.

Owan said he noticed that copays were rising, while insurance increasingly wasn’t covering the therapy children needed, and parents were even having financial difficulties paying for the treatments themselves.

“Families couldn’t afford (health care costs),” he said. “I had parents every day in my office in tears. I couldn’t take it anymore. I had to do something.”

The small nonprofit has grown every year since then. This year, it has handed out $30,000 to assist families with therapy needs, more than twice what they’ve been able to give away in previous years. But even that isn’t enough, Owan said. Parents submitted applications asking for $90,000 in assistance this year.

Elevations has done other fundraisers in the past and applied for grants, but they launched the 5K run in an attempt to raise even more money, Owan said.

“Obviously, there’s a gap that we need to fill,” he said. “It’s the neediest of the needy. There are so many more kids and families.”