Ellie (left) won the 2025 Gateway Mall Baby Crawl with her blazing speed. (Logan Lehmann/paNOW Staff)

By Logan Lehmann

On your marks

Gateway Mall Baby Crawl uses first-ever tie break in annual race

Mar 22, 2025 | 9:53 PM

History was made at the 2025 installment of the Gateway Mall Baby Crawl as for the first time ever, a tie-breaking measure was needed to determine the final standings.

Hosted alongside Family Futures Inc., there was just one race in this year’s event with four babies registered. The tie-breaker came into play when only two babies crossed the finish line. An onlooker from the crowd was chosen to draw a name to determine third and fourth place.

Prizes were also handed out to the participants, and the overall prize pool totalled $1500. All prizes were donated by stores within the mall.

“We’re really happy that they support events like this,” said Sharon Faul, Gateway Mall’s general manager. “The community gets to come out and enjoy a great event and gets a little treat to take home as well.”

Winning this year’s event was Ellie who crossed the finish line well ahead of her competitors. While she declined to comment following the race, her father, Stephen, did the talking and said she had a little help from her friend, Bluey.

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“There was some bribing with the Bluey and she loves to move around so it was pretty natural. She’s competitive like her dad so we got her started early,” he said jokingly.

Despite the small turnout, Faul said everybody still had fun.

“We had a great support crowd here cheering them all on and it was just lots of fun to watch them and see their reaction. [It’s] always a fun event for Gateway Mall.”

Ellie’s family said that following her win, she would have a snack and then take a post-race nap.

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loganc.lehmann@pattisonmedia.com

On Bluesky: @loganlehmann.bsky.social