Striding into spring with the ‘All in for Autism’ walk/run

Event-runners expect more than 2,500 runners to participate in the 5K/10K Run/Walk.

The Bellevue Breakfast Rotary Club (BBRC) with their partners Kindering, and Special Olympics, are encouraging everyone to seek healthy lifestyles by signing up for the All in for Autism 5K/10K Run/Walk on the April 29.

Participants will help raise awareness for autism and other related disorders, and enhancing community support. This is the twelfth year in which Bellevue’s All in for Autism has been supported and BBRC expects a turnout of more than 2,500 participants this year to build on the prior year’s successes.

“We are thrilled to be organizing the All in for Autism event for its 12th year,” BBRC’s president, Kaj Pedersen said. “It has truly become the premier family 5K/10K event in Bellevue and the support it receives directly supports many worthy causes within the local community. We encourage families, their dogs and serious 10K runners to join us this spring, as your participation will be fun for you, while supporting your local community’s efforts in support of Autism and Special Olympics.”

The event benefits Kindering, Special Olympics and other community projects. Kindering provides individualized family-centered early intervention services for children who are disabled, medically fragile, or vulnerable because of abuse or neglect. Special Olympics is the world’s largest sports organization for children and adults with intellectual disabilities, providing year-round training and competitions to 5.7 million athletes and Unified Sports partners in 172 countries.

This year, the Special Olympics USA Games will be occurring in Seattle July 1 through 6. The Games expect to bring more than 4,000 athletes to the area.

BBRC said they are pleased that many local companies have stepped in to support the All in for Autism family run/walk and these include: Bellevue Collections, Escape Outdoors, Starbucks, the City of Bellevue, Advanced Renal Tech, GLY, Nintendo and Costco.

“We are very pleased to be supporting the All in for Autism 5K/10K Run/Walk, particularly as it helps encourage a healthy lifestyle and supports the important work of Kindering, as well as other local charities,” said Katherine DeStephano of Escape Outdoors.

“We are excited by the prospect of this year’s All in for Autism event, especially after the tremendous support we received from last year’s participants in the event,” Mimi Siegel, the executive director of Kindering, said. “It will be such a fun and healthy event, and we are thrilled with our continued partnership with the Bellevue Breakfast Rotary Club in supporting this event.”