SWEet Race brings costumes, candy and a cause to Halloween

Halloween festivities kick off a little early in Butte, as Montana Technological University’s Society of Women Engineers (SWE) invites the community to throw on their costumes and lace up their running shoes for a good cause.

This year’s SWEet Race returns on Saturday, October 31, and organizers plan to lean into the holiday with a costume contest and a trick-or-treat experience along the one-mile walk for children.

“Kids wake up Halloween morning and they just want to be in their costume all day and are so excited,” SWE President Hannah Gingery said. “This race will be nice for them.”

Costumes have long been welcomed at the race — for both people and pets. Gingery remembers one participant transforming a ghillie suit into a pumpkin patch and a group of dogs dressed as a PAW Patrol crew. This year, she expects even more participants to embrace the costume contest with the race falling on Halloween.

The event is about more than Halloween fun. Half of the money raised goes to Susan G. Komen for breast cancer research, while the other half supports SWE.

For Gingery, the impact of the race on people who have experienced breast cancer is important.

“That’s always the best part of the race,” she said. “You really make connections with those people.”

Funds raised at the race also provide opportunities for members, including travel to professional conferences. Members attended a conference in New Orleans last year and plan to travel to Boston shortly after this year’s race.

“Organizing this race takes a lot, but it’s so rewarding,” she said.

Registration is $25 for the general public and $15 for students and children. Participants can also support the event by donating, volunteering or contributing items for raffles. SWE members will be at the Butte Farmers’ Market every other weekend through the end of the season, where people can register, donate or purchase T-shirts. To sign up click here. Anyone who would like to donate candy for trick-or-treaters can contact Gingery at hgingery@mtech.edu.

“Donate, sign up, run, wear a costume,” Gingery said.