Crew members from the HMCS Winnipeg returned to their ship's namesake city this weekend after spending six months hunting Somali pirates off the Horn of Africa.

The soldiers took the opportunity to raise several thousand dollars for a local charity by staging a long-distance run from the Saskatchewan border to Winnipeg.

"We feel a very special connection to the city of Winnipeg, particularly since the last deployment. The ship's company really felt a lot of support from the citizens," said Cmdr. Robert Ferguson.

The HMCS Winnipeg and her crew of 240 were participating in an international NATO-led mission called Operation Allied Protector. During their six months at sea, crew members disarmed five boats carrying suspected pirates.

"It's quite difficult actually to track down the pirate vessels," Ferguson said. "Imagine a water space the size of the province of Manitoba and you're trying to find a small, 16-foot runabout vessel."

Able Seaman Whitney Barham, 23, said the crew was well-prepared for the mission.

"To be honest I didn't find it so tense because we were so well trained. It just became exciting," said Barham, who is from a small community just east of Winnipeg called Anola.

Crew members are taking time off after returning to Canada. But many say they would like to rejoin NATO's anti-piracy mission off Africa's east coast.

With a report from CTV Winnipeg's Stacey Ashley