Runners suit up as gorillas for charity

DENVER, Oct. 30 (UPI) -- More than a thousand runners dressed in ape suits took part in an annual 5K Gorilla Run for charity in Denver, event organizers said.

The eighth annual run in to raise money for the Denver-based Mountain Gorilla Conservation Fund attracted more than 1,200 runners dressed in gorilla suits to the starting point at the Wynkoop Brewery Saturday, The Denver Post reported.

"It's strictly built on fun and raising awareness," said Frank Keesling, 46, who runs the event each year.

"We have to be the largest importer of gorilla suits in the country," Keesling joked.

Keesling said his mother Ruth, 83, is the real force behind the event.

Ruth Keesling became interested in gorilla conservation after she met primatologist Dian Fossey in 1983, her son said, and after Fossey was murdered in Rwanda in 1985 was determined to continue her work protecting the endangered mountain gorillas of Central Africa.

This year's event raised $90,000 for MGCF efforts in Africa, Frank Keesling estimated.