Superheroes race through Mt. Prospect for fun run
Capes kind of get in the way of stretching out before a run.
But that didn’t stop several superhero costume-clad joggers from limbering up before Saturday morning’s “Super Strive for 5” run at Mount Prospect’s Lions Park.
“I’m mostly walking, so it won’t be too distracting,” said Steve Finney, an Arlington Heights man who donned Superman’s red cape for the event. “The shirt is the logo from the Christopher Reeve (movie) version. The logo on the cape is from the new movie. I have a sweater in the car if it was cold with the George Reeves version of the logo from the TV show. I’m fond of Superman.”
His wife, Amy, wearing Wonder Woman’s tiara, was just as eager for the race as her husband.
“How often do you get to run through the streets of Mount Prospect with a Superman cape without being arrested?”
The 5K run is an annual fundraising event for the park district. Officials said money raised from the run helps the district fund programming scholarships for 50 to 70 local families each year. The costuming component was a new twist.
“I saw a fun run in Texas that did something like this, and I thought it would work perfect here,” said Mike Macella, the district’s fitness manager. “With the costumes we’ve had more pre-registrations than ever before.”
Roz Moore and four of her co-workers fashioned their own matching superhero costumes ahead of the race. Decked out in bedazzled masks, blue T-shirts with red tutus and capes, the fivesome powered up on fruit snacks offered by organizers ahead of the race.
Moore, a Mount Prospect resident, said the group had promised not to use any of their super powers during the race and let a mere mortal win.
“We’re probably going to walk most of it,” she said. “We don’t want to embarrass anybody.”
While her two sons wore Superman-themed garb, the boys picked out a more run-appropriate T-shirt for Mount Prospect resident Sarah Lyons.
“It was either Flash or Green Lantern,” Lyons said tugging at her new T-shirt. “Flash seemed more appropriate and motivating.”
While the race featured a glut of the heroic, conspicuously absent were any super villains for the runners to chase after.
“Maybe next year,” Macella said.