Norridge police will close a nine-block stretch of Montrose Avenue near Ridgewood High School on Friday night for about 300 runners and walkers who will take to the streets to raise money for charity during the high school’s annual 5K run and walk.
Organizers of the fifth annual 5K race hope to raise thousands of dollars for two nonprofit organizations that provide services to help children and adults with disabilities and special needs — the Easter Seals, and the New Horizon Center for Children & Adults with Developmental Disabilities & Autism.
Last year, the event raised $5,000 for the charities — $1,500 of which went to the Kevin Moore Foundation, a charity that supports the family of Ridgewood student Kevin Moore, an athlete who suffered a spinal injury during a wrestling match in early 2015.
Beyond the causes supported by the race, the 5K offers Ridgewood students an opportunity to get together with Norridge and Harwood Heights residents of all ages to celebrate the fast-approaching end of the 2015-16 school year.
This year’s beach-style theme follows last year’s 5K Glow Run/Walk, where participants wore glow-in-the-dark jewelry as they traveled the streets of Norridge to reach the finish line at Ridgewood High School.
Teacher Kevin Konsler said Ridgewood students form a committee that plans the race each year and comes up with a specific theme for the event.
“Our kids are the ones who really make the race special and what it is — it’s all student-driven,” Konsler said. “They come up with a theme, marketing materials, shirt design, and take care of a lot of the planning and organization.”
There will be a post-race party on the football field behind the school, where a DJ will play live music. Food and drinks will be served.
This year’s race follows the same route as last year. Participants will start at the high school’s south parking lot on Montrose Avenue and will wind down multiple residential side streets. The map shows runners taking a route that begins south down Olcott Avenue, then goes west on Belle Plaine Avenue, north on Ozanam Avenue, east on West Bertreau Avenue and north on Oriole Avenue.
The route next takes racers west down Montrose, then up to North Osage Avenue before heading down Wilson Avenue and wrapping around several side streets before looping back onto Wilson Avenue and into the back entrance of the school onto the football field.
Sergeant Brian Loughran of the Norridge Police Department said the event has been generally problem-free for the police since it first started in 2011. Some residents who live along the route of the race complained about colored powder being strewn on the streets following a “color run” one year, but most police involvement in the event extends to managing the road closures.
Loughran said drivers should avoid Montrose Avenue early Friday evening.
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“I’m looking at closing Montrose at 7 p.m., and keeping it closed until the last runner/walker is north of Montrose, approximately at 8 p.m.,” Loughran said. “The other street blockings will be opened as the last runners/walkers pass them.”
Natalie Hayes is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.