Terri Doucette and her baby Braxton after he won the baby crawl Saturday (Michael Joel-Hansen/paNOW Staff)

By Michael Joel-Hansen

Baby Crawl

Crawling to the finish line

Mar 17, 2019 | 9:00 AM

There was a large crowd on hand at the Gateway Mall Saturday afternoon for a unique kind of sporting event.

The mall played host once again to the annual Baby Crawl Contest, which saw three heats of crawling races, with the top baby in each race moving on the final.

In the end three babies crawled their way into the finals, with Terri Doucette’s son Braxton bringing home the title this year.

“He’s been practicing for a long time,” she said.

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In both races, Braxton left competitors in the dust. In the first race he got off to a slow start before eventually crossing the finish line. In the final race, Braxton came out of the gate quick and didn’t look back on his way to victory.

“He’s pretty fast,” Doucette said.

The baby crawl is an annual event at the Gateway Mall, with the one on Saturday being the fourth such incarnation. Donna Hordyski, marketing coordinator with Gateway Mall told paNOW the baby crawl is a good event for the mall.

“Every year it, just goes off without a hitch and it’s just such a wonderful event,” she said.

For this year’s crawl, the mall had 17 babies pre-registered to take part and saw four more register on Saturday. Hordyski added the event tends to bring out decent-sized crowds, while supporting a worthy organization.

“What it’s all about is that we just come together to support Family Futures and we have a little fun in doing so,” she said.

Donna Strauss, executive director with Family Futures, which partnered with the mall to put on the event, said the baby crawl gives her group the chance to get the word out about the services they provide.

“Our program supports young families, pregnant women and families with small children, so it’s a good fit for us to be involved with this,” she said.

Strauss said her organization appreciates how there is no entrance fee to enter the contest, but rather people are encouraged to donate items like diapers, formula and lightly-used clothing.

“We serve, you know, hundreds of families every year,” she said.

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MichaelJoel.Hansen@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @mjhskcdn