Charity runners support uncommon causes in Naperville Marathon
At least 300 charity runners will be among the field of 6,000 competing Sunday morning in the third annual Healthy Driven Naperville Marathon and Half Marathon.
Some will run for the big names in the realm of philanthropy: the American Cancer societies, the Cystic Fibrosis foundations and the Les Turner ALS foundations of the world.
Others will choose a local charity, such as the Indian Prairie Educational Foundation, Naperville Education Foundation, Loaves & Fishes Community Services, Little Friends, Literacy DuPage or Bridge Communities.
The marathon's title sponsor has a charity team, too, with some runners choosing to support the Edward Foundation benefiting Edward Hospital.
But among this array of kindhearted athletes is a contingent supporting causes that aren't so common or locally recognizable. Runners Julie and Kevin Peters of Oswego and Amy Meservey of Crystal Lake are among this group.
The Peterses are running for the Greater Chicago Fragile X Foundation in support of their 16-year-old son, Colin, who has an inherited mental impairment called Fragile X syndrome that leaves him nonverbal with mannerisms similar to someone on the autism spectrum.
Meservey is running for the National Alopecia Areata Foundation to benefit research on an autoimmune disease from which she suffers that results in hair loss on the scalp and elsewhere, along with frequent judgment from others based on looks alone.
As the runners prepare to hit the pavement for race day, they shared their stories of why they fundraise while they run and why their causes, though little-known, are so significant.
Read Julie and Kevin Peters' story here.
Read Amy Meservey's story here.
If you go
What: Third annual Healthy Driven Naperville Marathon and Half Marathon
When: 7 a.m. Sunday, Nov. 8
Where: Start/finish at Eagle Street between Aurora and Jackson avenues in downtown Naperville
Who: Roughly 6,000 runners, some supporting one of 27 charities affiliated with the race
Info: naperville26.com