To kick off the first day of March, the Tinley Park Park District held their annual Running ‘O the Green 8K and 5K races. This uniquely distanced race draws a large, festive crowd of runners every year.
This race starts and ends at the Tony Bettenhausen Rec Center, allowing runners access to free, plentiful parking and indoor toilets! Two big bonuses for runners, and reason enough to put this on your schedule for next year. If you need more reasons, you can add the charming course that takes runners through Tinley Park neighborhoods, ample post-race food offerings, and high quality long-sleeved technical t-shirt for all racers.
The weather was ideal, although a bit windy for the first half of the race. Sunshine peeked through and the promise of spring was in the air.
The race began a few minutes after 8am and runners made their way through the streets of Tinley Park. Many times we ran with traffic, but law enforcement had the intersections blocked for us. Runners passed two aid stations, one at mile 2 and a second at mile 4, before wrapping back to end at the Recreation center.
The course was clearly marked and on pavement. There were a few mild hills, but overall it was a fast course.
Organizers did a fantastic job and I can’t wait to return next year.
Winners were not available at the time this article was published.
