Daniela Adams, hearing the encouragement of her family and seeing the sign her brother, Joel, was holding urging her to “Run Fast,” picked up her pace as she made the last turn in Saturday’s Run the Ridge 1K in Burr Ridge.
Moments later, with a medal around her neck, the 8-year-old Berkeley girl smiled, having completed her first race.
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“I feel good. It took a lot of energy,” she said. “I got a cramp during it.”
Despite cramping up, she said, she enjoyed the experience and will definitely do more races.
Another youth, Natalia Waleszek of Elmwood Park, who competed in the Run the Ridge’s 5K race, may have set the bar a little high for her first race.
“I hoped to be in first place, but that didn’t happen,” she said. “But I did finish 73rd.”
Waleszek signed up for the race after participating in the ProActive Kids Foundation program, which helps youths 8 to 14 who are struggling with their weight. She was happy to be a part of the race, which has its benefits going to ProActive Kids, and has her sights now on doing another 5-kilometer race this summer with her family.
“It was exciting,” Waleszek said, completing the route in 40 minutes. “It was nice to be active and part of an activity with other kids.”
The Proactive Kids program, with six Chicago area locations funded through six local health systems, has children work out while teaching them about nutrition.
The eight-week program also focuses on self-esteem, body image, stress, feelings and bullying.
Martha Kasten of Brookfield, whose son went through the program twice and is now hoping to be a mentor for other kids, couldn’t say enough about ProActive Kids.
“My son gained self-confidence. He is now able to look people in the eye when talking to them,” Kasten said. “His body fat composition got better, but the big thing for me was that he gained confidence. They did a really great job getting my son involved.”
Nicki Klinkhamer, executive director of ProActive Kids, said to have kids get up on a rainy Saturday morning to run a race, speaks volumes for the changes the program makes in their lives.
“It is great to have this race where kids can do something as a group,” Klinkhamer said.
She said she was happy to see familiar faces in the races as well
“A lot of the runners went through the program last year or a couple years ago and wanted to come back to run,” Klinkhamer said.
Chris Harris of Willowbrook won the race in a time of 17:20. It was his first time at the event.
“I had heard about the race, but never ran it before,” said Harris, whose time was just 10 seconds off his personal best.
Amanda Wendorff of Naperville, the female winner in a time of 19:59, found the 5K course very much to her liking.
“I thought it was a great race through cool neighborhoods,” Wendorff said.
Burr Ridge Trustee Tony Schiappa, who ran the 5K race, said he was happy to see so many residents at the festivities.
“This event helps bring people in the community together,” he said. “I love that we can bring people together; and it is great that is to exercise.”
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Kevin Beese is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.