The Community Christian Church in Lincolnshire held its first ever Community 5K Walk/Run Saturday.
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Between 20 and 30 adults and children – some local and others from surrounding suburbs – joined the Community Christian Church’s inaugural event to raise money for programs throughout the year.
The Rev. Bryan Elliot, a pastor with the church for eight and a half years, said the proceeds would help pay for such programs as Easter egg hunts, trunk-or-treat for Halloween, and the Winter Festival.
“I’m here, because I love my church,” said Susan Bracken. “We love this community and we put on free events all the time, so this money will help us continue to put on those free events.”
Bracken, who registered to walk with Elliot and his wife, has been a member of the church for 21 years. She and her husband were married there and travel from Chicago almost every Sunday to attend services.
“You can’t find this tight of a community in other big churches,” she said.
Luke Rastetter of Lincolnshire was among the first group of people to finish the race. Even though he is not a part of the church, he likes participating in different races for charitable causes and this was his first since the Chicago Marathon in October.
“It was great. It was fun,” he said. “It was a good atmosphere.”
Denise Schmitt of Lincolnshire has run longer races in the past, but appreciated that this one didn’t require months of training and conditioning.
“With a 5K, you can just wake up and go,” she said with a laugh.
The 5K also included a Veterans Challenge in honor of current and former service members. Mike Sampson of Libertyville, a commander in the U.S. Naval Reserve stationed in Japan, ran while his wife and 10-year-old daughter walked.
An avid runner, Sampson has participated in many marathons, including the Chicago Marathon, New York Marathon, Los Angeles Marathon, and the Marine Corps Marathon in Washington D.C.
“It’s something fun we can do together,” he said. “We were a little nervous this morning that it was going to be very cold, but we were coming rain or shine, didn’t matter.”
Kulsoom Khan is a freelancer.