Twilight Shuffle 5K in Libertyville canceled; poor transition to new event leader cited
Hundreds of runners will be detoured this weekend as the popular Twilight Shuffle 5K in downtown Libertyville goes on hiatus.
Scheduling and logistic issues derailed the highly visible event, hosted for 11 years by MainStreet Libertyville, that has become synonymous with the Labor Day weekend.
"We had a new leadership team take over the event, and they didn't realize the importance of doing things far in advance," said Fred Kestler, chairman of the MainStreet board and co-chair of the nonprofit group's organization committee.
Logistics such as ordering and having T-shirts printed in time and securing an after-race venue are among the details involved in what is considered one of the organization's main events and fundraisers.
The event typically draws 500 to 700 runners, although more than 1,000 have entered in past years.
Due to a few volunteer scheduling conflicts, not all the necessary items were done in time to host the event this year, Kestler said. Picking alternative dates and enlisting more volunteers were considered, but the plug was pulled a few weeks ago.
"This was in part due to the transition of the event to a new event leader, which did not go as well as expected," Kestler said.
"There's a lesson learned," he added.
The Twilight Shuffle will return next year with a larger volunteer group "to ensure that the event is as well-run and as popular as previous years," according to Kestler.
MainStreet Libertyville, a volunteer organization involved in promoting downtown business and historic preservation, is celebrating its 30th anniversary. It receives $10,000 a year - about 5% of its annual budget - from the village but is not a village organization.
It hosts about 50 days of events a year and will be able to absorb the loss of the Twilight Shuffle revenue, according to Kestler.
"Like any other organization, we have three or four revenue steams, and events are just one of those. We have enough resilience," he said.
Sometimes events do exceedingly well and other times they don't meet expectations, he said.
"In the aggregate, we still are able to meet our expectations and our obligations to the community because of our diverse fundraising efforts," Kestler said.