Monday's Featured 5k of the Week - The Cory Blanchette 5k

The Cory Blanchette 5k is held in memory of beloved coach Blanchette who was killed while jogging in 2011.  The event draws runners from near and far, as sadly, this is a tragedy runners can relate to and are always cognizant of.  In addition to that, Cory was a cornerstone of the Manteno community known by students, student parents, and everybody in the community.  Definitely a tragic event, but heartwarming to see the community come together for this charitable event.

This event has traditionally taken place in September and has something to offer for everybody :
5k timed race (walkers welcome)
1 mile fun walk
Kids Dash

The course starts, naturally at Manteno High School out in front of the school on the village streets.  The course then heads north and into the residential district, emerging at the north end of the houses and then heads west towards Legacy Park.  The course then exits the streets for a while and runs along side the street on a path and then into Legacy Park to run on the park paths for a while before heading back south towards the school and into another residential district.  Nearing the finish - but not quite there yet, there is a point where runner can hear the finish line announcements and excitement through the houses.  This gives a nice boost of energy to get to that finish.  A little while longer in the residential area before heading onto school property.  Once on the school property, the runners enter the football field track and complete almost 1 full lap before finishing in front of the grandstands - filled with cheering fans and other runners who already finished.   There is something very exciting about finishing a race on an actual "track" - something very Olympic about it!

A very flat course, suited for setting some fast times - but also quite scenic and quite small-town setting offering a nice relaxing run or walk as well.

The walk starts after the 5k and takes a slightly different route, with both runners and walkers finishin on the track.  Volunteers do a wonderful job funneling the walkers onto the track without disrupting the runners.

The Kids Dash is a 100 yard dash - end-zone to end-zone after the other events, so the kids get to run in front of a grandstand of cheering fans!