Family members of all ages and fitness levels will have a chance to cross the finish line during Races for all Paces Saturday.

The race day will feature a variety of race lengths for runners – a half marathon, 10K relay, 10K individual, 5K, one-mile fun run, a Toddler Trot and a Diaper Dash.

The Toddler Trot is a 50-yard race for children ages 3 to 5, and the Diaper Dash is a 25-yard race for children 3 years old and under.

Suzanne Logue, the Healthy Communities program director at Sarah Bush Lincoln Health Center, said the race day originally started seven years ago with the 30th anniversary of the hospital.

The race day continued in hopes that it would promote a healthier community, she said.

While the races are timed, Logue said the race day is not competitive.

Whole families and those starting to run longer distances will often participate in the race day, she said.

“It’s just a great way to get the (whole family) out,” Logue said. “It’s usually a very nice morning. It’s very non-competitive. None of our races have prizes. Everybody gets a medal and a shirt.”

The exceptions, however, are the young participants of the Toddler Trot and the Diaper Dash.

“They get a little stuffed turtle,” Logue said. This is because it matches their theme of a tortoise and a hare.

She said they wanted to include the races for the children because it will help them start healthy behaviors early in life.

“Just like with anything, the sooner you can start children on healthier lifestyle behaviors whether they’re eating, getting used to fruits and veggies… just in that way, we’re introducing kids that fitness can be fun. Exercise can be fun,” Logue said.

Especially for children now, she said, it can be harder to get off the couch and get some exercise without technology distracting them.

“There are so many kids who just put in hours in front of what we call screen time, whether it’s a computer, video games or their TV,” Logue said. “This really encourages them to get out and back outside to play.”

Along with the shorter races for younger participants, the race day will feature longer distances for individuals and teams.

Logue said the race day will also have a 10K relay and 10K individual, a distance of about six miles.

She said for the relay, teams of six will get together and run a mile each.

“(The 10K individual) is our newest race,” Logue said. “We’ve never had a 10K individual race so we’re really excited, and we’ve had a lot of people sign up for this.”

She said the past three years, they have had about 800 people participate in the race day.

The registration fees participants pay goes towards the hospital’s Healthy Communities Programs such as the JumpStart day camps, dental program and healthy kids program.

“We love to see participation increasing every year,” Logue said. “That’s really showing that our event is worthwhile. People find that it’s fun, and they really do enjoy themselves when they come to Sarah Bush for Races for all Paces.”

Depending on the race, the fee and start time will vary. Day-of registration will be available with a higher registration fee.

Participants will be able to register and pick up their packets from 7 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. on Saturday.

Those interested can pre-register on the Sarah Bush Lincoln website or call 217-345-6828. 

Amanda Wilkinson can be reached at 581-2812 or [email protected].