Naperville VFW .1K race short on distance, long on heart
While thousands of Naperville runners are spending long hours pounding pavement to get ready for the Naperville Marathon, others are spending roughly a minute - or however long it takes to tie a pair of shoes - getting ready for another kind of race, the Judd Kendall VWF Post 3873 Judd-A-Thon.
The short prep time for this new race mirrors the short completion time because the race itself is, well, short.
It's a .1K.
That's right, the entire race is only a tenth of a kilometer. That's 109 yards, or just longer than a football field.
For the winners, the inaugural Judd-A-Thon will be over in seconds. For the walkers, a couple of minutes.
"It's something to have fun with," Post 3873 Quartermaster Phil Maughan said. "We'll call it a race, but some people are going to walk; several walk with canes."
Organizers are starting the race at 10:01 a.m. Sunday, to have just a little more fun with the .1K theme, and they're running right outside the Judd Kendall post at 908 W. Jackson Ave. near downtown Naperville.
The event is a fundraiser for the VFW National Home for Children, which Post 3873 long has supported.
"We call it a short race that can go a long way to help children," Maughan said.
The national home, in Eaton Rapids, Michigan, provides living spaces for children and families of military members and veterans whose situations are in crisis because of death, disability, deployment or divorce, said Mike McGrath, a Post 3873 member who is Illinois state director for the VFW National Home for Children.
McGrath travels to the 320 VFW posts in the state and speaks to members about the importance of supporting the national home, which was established in 1925 and provides 42 single-family homes along with a child-care center, a chapel, a guest lodge, playground and ball fields for resident families.
While visiting one of those posts, in O'Fallon, Illinois, near St. Louis, McGrath happened upon an unusual event met with "great enthusiasm." It was a .1K, and the event was so well-received he knew Naperville needed to have one.
"It's a lot of fun and everyone can participate," McGrath said. "It also raises awareness for the national home and it raises awareness about physical fitness as well in a subtle way."
Participants who pay $20 in advance or $25 on race day will get a T-shirt and another common racing souvenir - a race distance bumper sticker. Usually these stickers say impressively far distances like the 26.2 miles of a marathon or the 13.1 miles of a half marathon. Registration is available at napervfw3873.org.
But Maughan says the .1K sticker, and the race itself, will be impressive in another way - a more humorous one.
"Everyone who participates is going to have a personal record," Maughan said.
If you go
What: Judd-A-Thon .1K
Why: Benefits VFW National Home for Children
When: 10:01 a.m. Sunday, Sept. 21
Where: Judd Kendall VFW Post 3873, 908 W. Jackson Ave., Naperville
Cost: $20 in advance, $25 on race day; on-site registration from 8 to 9:30 a.m.
Info: napervfw3873.org