Runners take flight during Wheeling airport runway event

Runners took flight and helped celebrate the 100th anniversary of Chicago Executive Airport Saturday during the Rock ‘n’ Run the Runway event in Wheeling.

There were 1,500 participants who signed up for either the 5K run, the kids dash or the 1K walk, all of which took place on the airport’s runways and taxiways. The airport was closed to air traffic during the event.

Lorie and Patrick Anderson of Cambridge, Wisconsin, came to the race dressed as a Pan Am flight attendant and an airline captain, respectively.

“We are costume runners. We do a lot of the Disney races, so anytime an opportunity to do a race that has a costume, (we run),” Lorie said. “We’ve been looking at this race for many, many years and when the 100th anniversary of the airport came up, I was like, 'Oh yeah, this is going to be a big deal.’”

Andrew Kaehr of Lombard finished first with a time of 16:36.17, while Mandy Kompanowki of Naperville, who was sixth overall, was the first female runner to cross the finish line.