Runners Share Their Views

A record number of participants joined in the Grayslake Chamber of Commerce's recent 20th annual 5K Race & Fun Run. We caught up with some of them to see why it is such a popular event.

Joanne Torogian, of Grayslake who also works as a Youth Librarian at the Grayslake Area Public Library, said, "This is the second year in a row I've participated. My first race, I was just hoping to finish; but this year, I am hoping to beat last year’s time."

A group of the race volunteers - Mark, Greg, Mike, and Brent
- are friends from The Chapel, a multi-site church with a Grayslake campus. "I've been involved in a Grayslake business networking group for 10 years," Greg said. "We wanted to help out the community and felt volunteering for this event would be a great way to be of service."

A mother/daughter team Beth and Aubrey Hook, of Lake Villa, participated in the run. Aubrey is a 2007 Grayslake Central High School graduate. Last summer, Beth couldn’t even run a block, now they’ve participated in nine races together. Their goal is to run 12 races within a year.

Patch:  Have you ever participated in such a long race? If so, when and where?

Beth:   We did a half-marathon in Kenosha, and a duathelon in Pleasant Prairie, plus seven other races.

Patch:  Did your whole family do the race or just you two?

Beth:    Just the two of us. We wanted to do something together.              

Patch:   How did you prepare for such a race? Did you train a lot?

Beth:    I started walking with my chocolate Lab. It took a week to run one block, then eventually I worked up to one mile, two miles, three miles and up to 10 miles.              

NOTE:  Beth, 52 years old, took first place in her age division with a time of 26:46; and Aubrey, 22 years old, came in third in her age division with a time of 27:20.]

Patch:  What advice would you give others considering doing a 5K race?

Aubrey: Start out slow… go slow and steady or you’ll wear yourself out by mile two. This is a great way to meet people. There’s a whole “race community” where you see a lot of the same people at races.  

Beth:     My advice is that anyone can do this. Don’t sell yourself short!