Elgin Valley Fox Trot bringing back cash prizes, introducing new routes

Chicago Tribune

13-05-2025

The 48th edition of the Elgin Valley Fox Trot set for June 1 will be a bit different from years past.
Not only will cash prizes be offered again for the first time in several years, there will be new routes for the 5K and 10-mile races and the continuation of newer fun attractions, like face painting, organizers said.
'This race began before chip timing and GPS watches became standard so everything was done with stopwatches,' said Ed Bates, who has penned a new book, 'Running 10: The History of the Valley Fox Trot,' which he said is to be published by Aleo Publications later this year.
Its long history is part of the appeal for some, only some of whom will remember back to the day when it stepped off with 10 people starting their stopwatches at the start off the race and and then spreading out to designated mile markers to call out split times.
Bates, who has a doctorate in history from Northern Illinois University, said event founder Dr. David Bruce would run just behind the leaders to ensure everything was in place for the rest of the field.
'One of his friends even offered him fine champagne along the course,' Bates said.
Bruce was an ER doctor at Sherman Hospital who ran the Chicago Marathon in 1976, an experience that inspired him to start the Fox Trot in Elgin in 1978.
'The running boom of the 1970s is often attributed to (American) Frank Shorter's victory in the 1972 Olympic marathon,' Bates said. 'The Fox Trot is part of that history and began at a time when very few local running events existed.'
From 1978 through 1994, the Fox Trot was exclusively a 10-mile race. The first sponsor was Elgin Life Underwriters, and the city of Elgin managed the event from 1980 through 2019.
From its start through 2012, the race was held on Memorial Day. The high cost of staging the race on a holiday Monday led to it being shifted over to the Saturday of the holiday weekend in 2013 and and later to a Sunday, Bates said.
By 2019, race participation declined. The city was losing money on the event and officials decided to end its direct involvement, he said.
'The Kenyon Farm Runners, a local running group of which I am a member, took over the race in 2020,' Bates said. 'After hosting a 'virtual-only' race that first year due to COVID, the event has seen steady growth. We're hoping to get 1,200 runners this year.'
This year's Fox Trot will have different routes than it did last year for its 10-mile and 5K races.
According to the event website, both courses will still begin and end at the corner of Grove Avenue and Ann Street, just north of the Gail Borden Public Library. A downhill stretch of Grove Avenue for both races will enhance a sprint to the finish. And a short, steep climb up Cedar Avenue at just beyond the 8-mile mark will remind long-time Fox Trot runners of the old course up Duncan Avenue.
To promote participation by young runners, the event has a $20 entry fee for anyone 19 or younger, which is less than half the rate for adults. There's also a trophy given to the school with the highest number of finishers, Bates said.
'Face painting, which is open to everyone on race day, has also helped attract young participants. It's a feature we noticed in other successful races,' he said.
And as it has been doing for the last few years, race organizers will be offering free course preview runs Sunday, May 18, and Monday, May 26.
Inspired by research showing the city of Elgin once offered cash prizes, new Fox Trot sponsor the Karas Restaurant Group will be doing the same for this year's events. Male and female winners of the 10-mile race will each receive $200, with second-place winners netting $100 and third-place $50.
For the 5K, the prizes are $100, $50 and $25 for both men and women.
Come race day, Bates will be part of a five-person team managing the event. For that reason, the avid runner hasn't been able to participate in the Fox Trot since the virtual event in 2020, he said.
Bates took up serious running in 2004 after ending a 30-year career in retail managment. It was a sport he enjoyed in high school and did briefly during his business career, he said.
'I became a college history instructor and had more time to devote to running, having been only a mediocre golfer during my retail years,' he said.
In those 21 years, Bates has run 78 marathons in all 50 states.
'I have run the Chicago Marathon for each of the past 17 years, and I have completed Boston twice, New York twice, London, Tokyo and Berlin, achieving all six world marathon majors,' he said. 'Now, at 76 years old, I continue to run Chicago every year along with many local half- marathons.'
For more on the Elgin Valley Fox Trot, go to elginfoxtrot.org.