Heartland Bank Independence Day 5K planned for Saturday at Jacksonville’s Nichols Park
By Marcel Pacatte
The Heartland Bank Independence Day 5K Run, Walk & Fun Run at Nichols Park always has been on Independence Day, so race director Breck Van Bebber says that the theme naturally always has been patriotic.
This year, the 250th anniversary of the first day of our republic’s independence, “We are trying to lean into that a little more,” shares Van Bebber.
For that leaning, check the logo that will adorn the T-shirts being distributed to participants: It’s spiff, white and blue.
If you haven’t signed up for the race yet — which you can do up until race time early on the 4th — you’ve missed being guaranteed a shirt, particularly in your size. Sorry.
But not having a shirt hasn’t deterred runners in the past, and Van Bebber is of the opinion that running out of shirts is a good problem to have because it means more participants, and more participants means more money being donated to Prairieland United Way, the beneficiary of the annual run.
Van Bebber has been involved in the race for almost 30 years — taking over after race founder Dan Moy handed it off to him — and says that entrants peaked above 300 about 20 years ago and had fallen off in recent years, even before the pandemic, but participants have spiked above 200 again. He says he is hopeful this year continues that trend.
But that’s organizer stuff. What runners need to be concerned about, beyond knowing that they can register morning-of, is that sign-up is also available online (runsignup.com) and at Heartland Bank and Trust (1211 W. Morton Ave.), Bob Freesen YMCA (1000 Sherwood Lane) and Fitness World (1521 W. Walnut St.) in Jacksonville, and in Springfield at the Running Center (2943 West White Oaks Drive).
There’s also an array of door prizes that participants are eligible to win, including gift certificates to Leo’s Pizza, X’s and O’s Donuts, Brown’s Shoe Fit and the Running Center in Springfield.
Oh, and temperatures will be climbing quickly the morning of the Fourth of July from an overnight low in the low 70s to the upper 80s. And it’ll be humid, but nothing a Central Illinois runner isn’t used to dealing with in July. That’s why the race steps off at 7:30 a.m., to help participants beat the worst of it.
More organizer stuff: Van Bebber says he is indebted to Marty Copeland, who has assisted him for more than a decade; Prairieland United Way Executive Director Karen Walker and a team of volunteers there; as well as the Heartland Bank and Trust team, led by Jodee Nell and Lacey Sorrill.
He also mentioned the donors, whose gifts help the race run smoothly and in the black.
More runner stuff: There will be plenty of Gatorade, water, bagels and bananas on hand for participants to hydrate and carb up.
Bib pickup is from 4-6 p.m. on Thursday, July 2 at the Running Center in Springfield as well as from 9 a.m.-4 p.m. on Friday, July 3 at Heartland’s Morton location in Jacksonville. Runners also may grab their bibs at check-in at the park Saturday morning, beginning at 6:30.
There’s also a half-mile fun run for kids that will step off after the 5K runners clear out from the start that morning, at 8:15. Additionally, Van Bebber notes that adult walkers are welcome to participate in the main event.
He said there are multiple categories — 14 age groups for men and for women — and the top two finishers in each category will receive medals.
The event, Van Bebber says, always has had three chief goals: to promote running as a sport, to promote a healthy lifestyle and to support charity. In the event’s earlier iteration, the beneficiary alternated each year but, he says, eventually Prairieland United Way became the annual recipient of the proceeds because of its reach in the community.
He estimates a grand total of more than $45,000 over the years has gone toward helping people in the community, and he looks forward to more this year and in the future.
Modern distance running came into vogue in this country in the 1970s, thanks to Bill Bowerman, Phil Knight, Steve Prefontaine, the University of Oregon, Nike and a waffle iron, but scientists have concluded that distance running has been around for a lot longer than that.
Anthropologists say running gave early humans an evolutionary edge, now having documented hundreds of examples of them literally chasing their quarry until it collapsed from exhaustion.
Don’t worry, though. At Nichols Park on Saturday, there are bagels and bananas.
