Saints Challenge keeps history in focus

Time is flying way too quickly when you hear about an upcoming running event, and you can remember when the first one was held somewhere around 1980.

It was called the Sharp's Challenge back then because race organizer Jeff Leavey, a cross country coach at St. Charles High School, had a son who worked for Euclid Beverage and they sponsored the 8K that started near the high school and cruised through the surrounding east side neighborhoods. It was held on the Fourth of July for many years.

Now it's called the Saints Challenge 5K, with the Jeff Leavey Youth Mile event added, and it is held at 8 a.m. Father's Day, June 19, at what is now St. Charles East High School.

Leavey has been gone a few years, retiring to Florida, where he no longer teaches but continues to coach track and cross country at a high school in the Tampa Bay area.

“Jeff started this race years ago to help raise money for the high school programs, and it is still used for that to this day,” said event organizer Bruce Westerhoff.

“Back around 2000, the race was moved to LeRoy Oakes Forest Preserve because of construction around the race route near the high school,” Westerhoff recalls. “It was out there for a few years, but then it came back to the high school as a 5K.”

Westerhoff said other racing events on the Fourth of July started to compete directly with the Saints Challenge, so it was moved to Father's Day.

This was always an event in which you could expect former St. Charles track and cross country athletes to show up in support of Leavey and the school.

Even though he has participated in the event since 1993, Westerhoff can't be counted among those former Saints.

“I am not an ex-Saint,” Westerhoff said. “I went to Homewood-Flossmoor, but did not run there. I discovered running later and have been doing races ever since.”

Westerhoff said he was voted into the boosters president role a couple of years ago, and he's been helping support the event because he has two daughters who are runners — one an ex-Saint, the other just finishing up her sophomore year.

His family moved to St. Charles in 1992, and he and his four children have competed in the race ever since.

In addition to being a reunion for all Saints runners, this year's event is the official 5K of the Dick Pond Walk to Run program, so as many as 300 or more runners are expected.

Preregistration at runningsaints.org takes place until June 9.

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