Sixth Annual Spirit of Syilx Unity Run

The run kicked off Thursday evening with opening ceremonies at the Westbank First Nation Gymnasium and will carry on through Penticton, Oliver, Cawston, crossing the border into Tonasket and wrapping up in Omak, Washington on June 8.

The run will span 250 km. Picture above at 3pm coming out of Penticton.

According to Grand Chief Stewart Phillip, the objective is to encourage Nationhood through action and healthy life style while tackling key social problems.

“By utilizing action as a means to engage with youth in the community, ONA has a significant opportunity to reach the ever-growing number of youth among the eight member communities.”

The goal of the Unity Run is to mobilize and motivate communities to bring awareness to youth and First Nation communities and ways to address the high rate of suicide and decrease violence in the Okanagan Nation Alliance.

Traffic will be slow through areas where the teens are running.