On a rainy winter day colder than 40 degrees, 550 Northampton community members lined up in Look Park dressed in their silliest tutus, brightest spandex, and glitziest hats for the Worst Day of the Year run. In a race where every participant who finishes receives a medal and those who wear the most outlandish outfit win a prize, the Worst Day of the Year run serves as a fundraiser for Habitat for Humanity, an organization that builds houses for low-income families in order to enable spending money for other necessities.

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Local businesses sponsored the event monetarily and nutritionally by providing the runners with a victory meal inside the Look Park Garden house while a number of businesses set up booths offering food related and athletic garb for the runners to enjoy. Alison Childs, the woman responsible for bringing the event from Portland Oregon where her brother had previously organized the event to Northampton MA says,

 “I Think it was a huge success. [It was] really fun to see all of the costumes, and the food was delicious."