Healthy Kids Running Series wraps its fall season at Hoffman Park

The Healthy Kids Running Series closes its fall season in Lombard on Sunday afternoon at Hoffman Park, where runners from preschool through eighth grade line up at 4 p.m. for the fifth and final race. On the last day every runner receives a finisher medal, and trophies go to the top overall finishers in each division.

The Lombard/Glen Ellyn series met at Hoffman Park, 2S500 Gray Avenue, on five Sundays this fall: Sept. 13, 20 and 27, Oct. 4 and Oct. 18. Each week the youngest children ran dashes of 50 or 75 yards, kindergartners and first graders ran a quarter mile, second and third graders ran a half mile, and fourth through eighth graders ran a full mile. Runners earn points each week based on where they finish, and the points add up across the series.

The series’ standings through four weeks list 84 scored runners in eight divisions, with girls and boys racing separately in kindergarten and first grade, second and third grade, fourth and fifth grade, and sixth through eighth grade. Between 68 and 76 of those runners finished each of the first four races, and the kindergarten and first grade boys made up the biggest field, with 24 runners.

The series also offers a Challenger Division, an adaptive 75-yard race for children with disabilities or special needs. Parents, siblings and friends may run alongside them on the course, and runners may bring their own supportive devices, such as crutches, braces or wheelchairs. Challenger runners are among those eligible for trophies on the final day.

Healthy Kids Running Series is a nonprofit based in Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania, that holds five-week series in communities around the country each spring and fall. A full-series registration covers a race bib each week, a runner shirt and the finisher medal, and families who want to try a single race can sign up on site an hour before the start.

The Lombard series is led by local community coordinators and run with help from volunteers. Its organizers offer to sign for service hours or write reference letters for high school and college students who help on race days.

As of Sunday afternoon, the series had not yet posted the Week 5 results or its final standings. The Lilac Post will add the division winners once the final results are published.