Berwyn resident Alex Baltazar took home the first-place ribbon in the 2024 Run For The Roses 5K, a benefit staged for several decades by the La Grange Park Chamber of Commerce.
He was one of about 130 runners who turned out on a sunny Sunday morning May 19 to help support the Chamber and La Grange-based Pillars Community Health.
“I feel great,” he said after finishing. “I run all the time, and I’m part of a runners group in Berwyn, the Berwyn Runners. I host the runs in Berwyn, the 5K run on Thursdays. Everybody’s welcome.”
Cruising across the finish line well ahead of the competition, Baltazar said he felt so good, “I feel like running again.”
The runners started and finished at Forest Road School on Forest Road, taking a winding route that stretched as far north as 26th Street and as far south as Memorial Park.
Mya Coglianese, a 15-year-old sophomore member of the Lyons Township High School track and cross-country teams, took first place in the female division.
“Well, this wasn’t my best race,” she said. “I just got over a cold, but overall, it was pretty good. I run for LT track and cross country.
Coglianese wasn’t originally interested in running except as a way to stay in shape for another sport.
“At first I started track because I played tennis, and I wanted to stay in shape,” she said. “But then I did track and liked it a lot, and I realized that I had more potential in track than I did in tennis, so I ended up quitting tennis for cross country.”
At the finish line, everyone was presented a rose, regardless of whether they ran the full course, ran some and walked some, or just walked the whole route. Other first-place ribbons were awarded based on age group and gender.
Hop District Community Brewing was a sponsor of the race.
“It’s Hop District Community Brewing,” co-owner Shayne Hansen stressed before the race began in explaining her motivation. “So anything to do with the community, fundraising events, early morning events, we’re here.”
Other sponsors of the run were American Family Insurance, Express Med Spa, Pillars, Everything Pets, and DesignZ.
Some of the runners were old hands at Run For the Roses.
“We do this every year, it’s tradition,” Terri Rivera, Brookfield resident and Chief Advancement Officer of BEDS Plus, said. “It’s a fun tradition.”
Rivera’s friend, Karyn Miller, estimated that they had been participating in the race for a long time, at least 26 years.
“I’m sort of retired, so I wouldn’t say I’m a regular runner, but we have done races,” the La Grange Park resident said.
Pillars Community Health will soon be opening a facility in La Grange Park, right next to the coming Aldi grocery store at 333 N. La Grange Rd.
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“We’re just super grateful to the La Grange Park Chamber of Commerce for their support of Pillars Community Health,” Stefin Steberl, Pillars director of marketing, said. “We’re excited that we’re entering with a new clinic.”
For further information on the La Grange Chamber of Commerce, visit its website, lagrangeparkchamber.org
Hank Beckman is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.