Supporting The Parks With Every Step
If you’re like me, you’re going to be at Oakdale Nature Preserve on October 14th. There’s the crisp autumn weather, the changing leaves, the chance to see some fury friends scampering about, and a variety of other reasons to find yourself at Oakdale on that Saturday. While I’ll love experiencing those features of Oakdale, that’s not my main reason in being there. My main reason will be competing in the 5th annual Autumn Leaf Run.
I took up running because I’d never been good at it. For a while in elementary school, I was one of the fastest kids around, so long as we were only racing to the end of the block. My endurance had never been anything to brag about but no matter. Mom would only let me get to the end of the block anyway. Then my friends got their growth spurt and I was still shopping in the children’s section. Left with nobody but myself to compete with, my daily goal became simply to run longer than I did the day before.
Slowly, I developed running into a habit and found that despite my expectations, I enjoyed it. I never got the “runner’s high” that you may have read about but there was something serene about being on my own and moving under my own power towards a goal that was only mine, no one else’s. This sensation was only intensified when I would be outdoors and surrounded by nothing but the wind of the wild. It took me back to my Scouting days, exploring a handful of wooded locations, not the least of which, was Oakdale.
Freeport, and the surrounding areas, have a variety of hidden treasures. My favorite has always been Oakdale. It’s a pocket of paradise in our own backyard. It has wildlife and wildflowers, native prairie and dense tree walls. I’ve been chased by raccoons, chased frogs, and watched a fox chase a turkey there. It’s a beautiful preserve with something for everyone. That’s where the run comes in.
The Autumn Leaf is a fundraiser for the parks foundation, focusing on tree replacement throughout our beautiful park system. While it isn’t just for Oakdale, it helps to highlight one of the less frequented parks in that system by bringing folks out to experience the gorgeousness that is Oakdale. Even if you’re not a runner, you can still be part of this endeavor.
One of the things I like most about running the 5Ks in the area is the diversity of personal goals I see at every race. There’ll be the folks who are hoping for a course record with their eyes on that hand carved trophy at the end. There will also be kids who are racing for the first time, seeing Oakdale for the first time, or both. There are families as well as corporate teams sharing a group outing in nature. You even have those that couldn’t care less about what place they come in, they just want to enjoy and support the forest. (That’s my wife’s category and despite coming in last place last year, she still brought home a first place medal from her age group.) Then there’s my favorites. The ones who had “complete a 5K” as their personal fitness goal and they chose to achieve it at Oakdale. It’s beautiful to see.
The Autumn Leaf is an opportunity to celebrate nature, our diverse park system, and the diverse people that make it up. You can sign up through the Park District website and I hope you do. Oakdale is too beautiful a place to not share.
