Florida jogger dons costume to cheer up neighborhood

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — More than a week after Easter, there’s still one mythical creature hopping around a Florida neighborhood trying to spread happiness.

Corey Jurgensen runs along East Henry Avenue wearing an inflatable unicorn costume. Jurgensen has been wearing the costume during runs several times a week to cheer up others during this time of isolation but finds it therapeutic for herself as well (Martha Asencio Rhine/Tampa Bay Times via AP)

Corey Jurgensen, 40, donned a 7-foot-tall inflatable unicorn costume to jog, jump and dance around the streets near her Tampa home last week in an effort to cheer up neighbors stuck indoors amid the coronavirus pandemic, The Tampa Bay Times reported.

Jurgensen originally purchased the inflatable for Halloween, but gave it a new life on March 21 when a friend from Washington saw a similar act on social media and challenged Jurgensen to suit up and show hers off.

Since then, Jurgensen told the newspaper she has galloped around streets within a mile radius of her home multiple times, drawing honks from passing cars, claps from families standing on porches and many, many photos posted to social media.

Though the massage therapist has not been able to work her regular job in weeks, she said her new calling is providing a temporary distraction.

“There is nothing better than being a unicorn,” Jurgensen told the Tampa Bay Times. “Everyone smiles when they see a unicorn.”