Wauconda Bunny Hop a Huge Success

The inaugural Wauconda Bunny Hop was launched on Saturday, April 7th 2012, and was a huge success with over 540 participants and raising $10,268.53 for The Friends of the Wauconda Area Library. “Everything exceeded our expectations,” said event coordinator Peg Shulha. The residents of the Village of Wauconda and other areas really came out to have a wonderful morning, and support the community.” The Friends of the Wauconda Area Library volunteered many hours to make the event a huge success.

“While the 4-mile race around the lake had many participants, the 2 mile walk through Cook Park and on Main Street had a huge turnout,” said Race Director Chris Rueb. The race began at the Wauconda Area Library with Mayor Mark Knigge firing a cannon at 9:10am and Victor Ford was the pace car for the runners. The 4 mile race around Bangs Lake was professionally timed and the overall male winner was David MacKnick of Chicago, with a time of 26:18:08, and the female overall winner was Sarah Lesinski with a time of 29:17:00.. These runners were awarded first place bunny trophies, as well as a gift certificate from Vicky's Personal Touch. Complete race results can be found at racetime.info.

The race was organized by Star Runners, a division of the non-profit entity STAR. According to STAR director Glenn Starkey, the event was an expansion of their “Jog n' Java” run around Bang's Lake every Saturday morning at 8am. The group's recent Turkey Trot raised over $8000 for the Wauconda Food Pantry last November.

The Wauconda Bunny Hop event had very strong support from Wauconda/Island Lake businesses, with over thirty-five companies coming together to sponsor the event. For more photos and a complete list of sponsors, visit the event website at www.waucondabunnyhop.webs.com.