Families and students ran and walked together to raise money for the American Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund Saturday morning.

Groups of people were on the sidelines, cheering for their loved ones as they ran past.

Jack Hightower, a sophomore marketing major, ran with his mother while his nephew cheered for him.

Hightower said his mom does half-marathons and she wanted him to do run the race.

This is the ninth year of the run, which is a part of the new student programs’ PROWL events.

PROWL is a 60-day program filled with activities to help freshman and transfer students get used to Eastern.

The 5k is the last PROWL activity for the semester.

Rachel Chlebanowski, the program coordinator with new student programs, said people who run the 5k usually take 20-30 minutes to complete the race and walkers take an hour.

Chlebanowski said the money goes to the disaster relief fund because of the many house fires that occur in the Coles County area.

“In a typical year there can be 25 cases,” Chlebanowski said.

Chlebanowski said the program has grown throughout the years with attendance being anywhere from 30 to 80 people.

Chlebanowski said one of her favorite parts of the 5k was the families who ran together and it was a good event for them to get together. She also said the weather was one of the contributing reasons people came to the race.

“It’s a beautiful morning,” Chlebanowski said. “But last year in September it was warmer.”

People could purchase raffle tickets to win items like t-shirts, sweatshirts and gift cards from Starbucks and Dairy Queen.

“They were all donated to us,” Chlebanowski said. “They were donating for a good cause.”

Those who placed in the 5k got certificates and students timed the runners.

“Everyone gets to know throughout the race where they’re at,” Chlebanowski said.

Deb Cooper, from Dixon, said she was supporting her daughter Megan who was running.

“She has been running since she was in 7th or 8th grade,” Cooper said.

Cooper said she was enjoying the family weekend events going on that weekend.

Selena Castillo, a junior management major working at the race, said seeing everyone running made her want to start running again.

Castillo and the other student workers got to the Campus pond around 7:45 a.m. to set up for the 5k.

A senior Prowl leader, Castillo said she was a little sad to see the Prowl activities end for the semester with the race.

“It’s a very rewarding job,” Castillo said. “I can still walk to campus, and have people say ‘hey’ to me. It was great to be the face of the campus.”

Castillo let people know they can still contact her on Facebook if they need anything.

Sylvester Brady, 12, from Joliet, said he ran track at school, but the 5k was way harder.

“It’s just that I run short events,” Brady said. “The 100, 200.”
Brady said he used endurance to get through the race.

“It gave me more confidence,” Brady said.

Brady said during his track meets at school, he’s going to think about how he was able to run the 5k.

“I’m going to think, ‘I didn’t stop during this race,’” Brady said.

About 35 people in total ran in the 5k, which included 10 who registered on the day off; it was $20 to register and all the proceeds went to the American Red Cross.

Cassie Buchman can be reached at 581-2812 or [email protected]