Close to 50 runners took part in the 16th annual Friendship Run on Monday May 21.

The 12km run goes from the Call of the West Museum in High River by the Ag grounds to the Cresent Point Regional Field House by Aldersyde.

The Big Rock Runners running group from Okotoks organized the event along with support from the RunHers, a women's running group also from Okotoks.

John MacKillop with the Big Rock Runners says about 50 runners came out.

"I think there's almost fifty this year.  We could go to one hundred. It's all free, we provide food and drinks and stuff like that.  That's about as big as we probably want to get."

The run used to go from High River all the way to Okotoks down highway 2A but with so much traffic they now cut across country.

"So that's why we go backroads and up 64th right away through my brothers farm, Lloyd MacKillop's pasture with the footbridge on Tongue Creek, so that made it so we didn't have to go on the road."

MacKillop says this was the first event for the running group this year and they're looking forward to the Sheep River Run in September.

"They have been doing the Sheep River Road Race for forty years.  This is the fortieth this September.  There's going to be special shirts and things like that."