The 8K Run will be a community event run on a beautiful scenic trail of the Lake Forest Open Lands Area in Lake Forest, Illinois. The trail race will take place on the Derwen Mawr Prairie, part of the Skokie River Nature Preserve. This preserve consists of woodlands, oak-hickory savannas, sedge meadows, and pockets of original prairies and wetlands. The landscape is so rare that it has become part of the Illinois Nature Preserve system, an organization that protects the last remnants of our state’s natural heritage. The event will be a Green race meaning that there will be no harm to the area and everything about the race will be managed ecologically. A purpose of the run will be to introduce the runners and walkers to the Open Lands and the pleasure of running in such bucolic surroundings.
Race proceeds will benefit the Center for Conservation Leadership (CCL) a Lake Forest Open Lands Association youth program for middle and high school students from diverse backgrounds with a keen interest in the environment and a passion for the outdoors with the goal of teaching students to learn how to become a steward of the environment.
The Lake Forest Lake Bluff (LFLB) Running Club will strive to reduce the environmental impact through green practices: compostable food-service items, everything used must be reusable or recyclable, virtual goody bags and shirts made of recycled material.