{"id":82114,"date":"2019-10-22T16:03:22","date_gmt":"2019-10-22T21:03:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/?p=82114"},"modified":"2020-04-04T19:31:42","modified_gmt":"2020-04-05T00:31:42","slug":"pumpkins-in-the-park-5k-celebrates-20th-anniversary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/pumpkins-in-the-park-5k-celebrates-20th-anniversary\/","title":{"rendered":"Pumpkins in the Park 5k celebrates 20th Anniversary"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><iframe title=\"Pumpkins in the Park\" src=\"https:\/\/player.vimeo.com\/video\/368131480?dnt=1&amp;app_id=122963\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"autoplay; fullscreen\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><strong>By Junie Burns and Zachary Fishman<\/strong><br \/>\n<em>Medill Reports<\/em><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">More than 1,300 people took their Halloween costumes for a test run at the 20th annual <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pumpkins5k.com\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Pumpkins in the Park 5K<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> on Oct. 19.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Runners enjoyed unusually warm temperatures as they looped through Lincoln Park for the race. Real estate agent Joel Bendtsen was the first across the finish line in 16:51, completing the 5K nearly 20 seconds ahead of the next runner.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u201cWhen it\u2019s 70 degrees in the middle of October, you can\u2019t beat it,\u201d said Bendtsen, 34.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The women\u2019s top spot belonged to 26-year-old fitness clinic manager Emily Paull, who finished with a time of 18:56. Other notable runners included Captain Jack Sparrow, Pac-Man and Forrest Gump.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The family-friendly event also featured pumpkin carving, costume contests and free pumpkin pie for race finishers.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The race made its debut in 1999 to raise money for the Chicago Park District and was organized by park district employee Krista Bryski-Richard. Today, the 5K supports <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.chicagoparkdistrict.com\/events\/night-out-in-the-parks\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Night Out in the Parks<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">, a Chicago Park District program overseen by Bryski-Richard that plans over 2,000 events each year.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Hundreds of children, some as young as 2, ran (and crawled) alongside their peers in the \u201cSpooky Sprints\u201d held earlier in the day. The youngest racers toddled across 10 yards while the 10-year-olds covered nearly 400 yards. Superheroes, princesses and animals dominated their costume choices.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Five-year-old Sofia Villarreal, who dressed as Elsa from Disney\u2019s \u201cFrozen,\u201d said she \u201cran as fast as a cheetah\u201d during her sprint. Businessman Gabe Villarreal, her father and a longtime runner, attested to her first time at the event.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u201cIt&#8217;s great seeing her be a part of the running community,\u201d said Gabe, 41. \u201cShe loves the bling, getting the medals.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The VIllarreals participated in Pumpkins in the Park as a family: He and his wife, Sandra, ran their 5K with Sofia in a stroller.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u201cIt really brings out the community and brings out the families,\u201d Gabe said.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The event also attracted hundreds of costume-wearing adults like Corey Fast, 30, who ran her fourth \u201cP in the P\u201d dressed in green and wearing an alligator hat. She didn\u2019t have time to complete the \u201cChance the Snapper\u201d costume she was planning, Fast said, but the evening was still a success.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Fast attended the race with seven-time participant Doug Baker, 33, who dressed as a pumpkin and was the first costumed runner to finish.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u201cIt\u2019s a great way to get outside in the fall,\u201d Baker said. \u201cIt\u2019s just nice to come out and use our parks.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"featurecaption\">Photo at top: Kids line up at the start line for the &#8220;Spooky Sprints&#8221; fun run at the Pumpkins in the Park 20th Anniversary. (Junie Burns\/MEDILL)<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Junie Burns and Zachary Fishman Medill Reports More than 1,300 people took their Halloween costumes for a test run at the 20th annual Pumpkins in the Park 5K on Oct. 19. Runners enjoyed unusually warm temperatures as they looped through Lincoln Park for the race. Real estate agent Joel Bendtsen was the first across [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":611,"featured_media":82118,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194,4780,30,31],"tags":[192],"class_list":["post-82114","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arts-culture","category-fall-2019","category-public-affairs","category-sports","tag-promo"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Pumpkins in the Park 5k celebrates 20th Anniversary - Medill Reports Chicago<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/pumpkins-in-the-park-5k-celebrates-20th-anniversary\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Pumpkins in the Park 5k celebrates 20th Anniversary - Medill Reports Chicago\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Junie Burns and Zachary Fishman Medill Reports More than 1,300 people took their Halloween costumes for a test run at the 20th annual Pumpkins in the Park 5K on Oct. 19. Runners enjoyed unusually warm temperatures as they looped through Lincoln Park for the race. Real estate agent Joel Bendtsen was the first across [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/pumpkins-in-the-park-5k-celebrates-20th-anniversary\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Medill Reports Chicago\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-10-22T21:03:22+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-04-05T00:31:42+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/medill.wordpress.offload\/WP%20Media%20Folder%20-%20medill-reports-chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2019\/10\/Screen-Shot-2019-10-21-at-9.50.28-PM-copy.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1100\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"618\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Junie Burns\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Junie Burns\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/pumpkins-in-the-park-5k-celebrates-20th-anniversary\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/pumpkins-in-the-park-5k-celebrates-20th-anniversary\/\",\"name\":\"Pumpkins in the Park 5k celebrates 20th Anniversary - 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