Morton Arboretum's Fall Color 5K Run and Walk

The Morton Arboretum in Lisle is almost always a nice place to take an autumn stroll.

Colorful trees. Decorated scarecrows. Some Lego art.

But despite the nip in the air Sunday, it also was a nice place to work up a little sweat, as hundreds did at the 12th annual Fall Color 5K Run that took participants across some rolling terrain on a new USATF-cerified course on the arboretum's east side. It concluded with a post-race party near the Visitor Center.

"We do this event because it is a beautiful place to run and to support our mission," race coordinator Diana Fischer-Woods said.

She added that in addition to the nearly 1,900 runners participating in the 5K run and walk about 300 children participated in the Kid Dash races.

AJ Freeman of North Aurora placed first with a time of 16:28 and Kate Leuders of Naperville became the first woman to cross the finish line Sunday with at time of 19:17.

You didn't have to be a first-class adult runner to participate, though; many participants jogged or walked the route.