On Sunday over 2,000 runners lined up in Downtown Naperville for the Healthy Driven Naperville Half Marathon and 5K races.
10th Anniversary
This year marks the 10th anniversary of the race. The first four years it was a full marathon, before being switched to its current 13.1-mile course. In the first year of the race there were 2,489 finishers. Of that number, only 85 people have participated all ten years.
“This is my ninth year. I missed the first year because they had a cutoff date. So, but to run in your hometown, to support your school, and to raise funds is great. I’m an avid runner, so I just enjoy running around the city, and all the different people coming out to cheer for us,” said Jason Stipp, principal at Waubonsie Valley High School.
Running For Charity
Some runners run for fun, while others run for a charity. This year there were seven different charities that runners could represent.
“So, I’m running for IPEF again. This is going to be my ninth year running for IPEF. We’ve all raised money. District 203 has their foundation and there are several other charities. So IPEF is a foundation for District 204 that raises money for the arts and for enrichment activities and STEM things and interventions for kids in our district. So, I’m excited to support them and half of our money goes right back to our schools,” said Stipp.
Half Marathon Winner
As always, a race finishes with a winner, and this year James Weissensel finished in first place of the Healthy Driven Naperville Half Marathon with a time of 1:09.26.
Race results for both the half marathon and 5K can be found on the races website.
Naperville News 17’s Anthony Yench reports.
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