EVANSTON, Ill. -- Northwestern today welcomed Big Brothers Big Sisters of Metropolitan Chicago as the official charitable partner of the fourth-annual Run For Walk, a 4.1 mile run and 5K family walk in honor of former Wildcats head football coach Randy Walker.
Big Brothers Big Sisters of Metropolitan Chicago serves over 1,700 at-risk youth in the metro Chicago area (Lake, Cook, DuPage County, Illinois and Lake County, Indiana), and hosts two site-based mentoring programs in Evanston. Big Brothers Big Sisters mission is to empower at-risk youth by providing high impact one-to-one mentoring that enables lifelong success.
"We are honored to be the charitable partner for the 2015 Run For Walk," said Art Mollenhauer, CEO of BBBSMC. "Randy Walker's legacy is more than just being a football coach; Randy was a caring, charismatic leader who cared about the young men who played for him. Randy was a mentor not only to his players, but his coaching staff as well. You can see his spirit live on in the way Coach Fitzgerald runs the program now. Coach Walker embodied everything we look for in a mentor and I believe he would have been a great `Big Brother' in our program. We are so glad Run For Walk is supporting our efforts to match at-risk youth in Evanston and throughout the Chicago area with a caring and safe volunteer mentor."
The Run For Walk is a Chicago Area Runner's Association (CARA) Runners' Choice Circuit event. The unique run distance of 4.1 miles harkens back to Walker's uniform number -- 41 -- during his collegiate playing days at Miami University. Both the run and walk take place through Evanston's tree-lined streets and on Northwestern's campus with participants finishing on historic Ryan Field.
"The Walker family is thrilled to have Big Brothers Big Sisters of Metropolitan Chicago as a partner with the Run for Walk," said Tammy Walker on behalf of the Walker family: Jamie and Abbey, and Brian, Clara & Walker Boudreau. "For Randy, the number one reason he coached football, was that it gave him an opportunity to mentor players and young coaches and to be a positive role model for all young people. Because Big Brothers Big Sisters is the iconic national organization for positive mentoring of our young citizens, this is a perfect charitable partnership. Please bring your family and friends to Ryan Field and join us for this fantastic, fun and worthwhile event. We look forward to your support and we'll see you at the starting line on August 9!"
The registration fee for either the run or walk is $37.50 and includes a short-sleeved technical shirt, a ticket to a nonconference home football game and entry into the race day expo. Northwestern students may register for a reduced fee of $25. Registration for the Youth Mile is $15 and includes a t-shirt and nonconference home football game ticket. Kids' Races are just $10 and include a participation award.
Fans are encouraged to register online or visit NUsports.com/RunForWalk for more event details. Questions should be directed to runforwalk@northwestern.edu or by calling 847-491-7723.
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