Highland Park Strong Run Club pounding the pavement with purpose 1 year after tragedy
HIGHLAND PARK, Ill. (CBS) -- A group of Highland Park residents took a unique approach to healing after the July 4th parade mass shooting last year.
It is a path that might sound like work to some - pounding the pavement.
CBS 2 Investigator Megan Hickey went jogging with the Highland Park Strong Run Club as they prepared for a race one year in the making.
"Following the parade, I was just having a really hard time clearing my head. I was having trouble communicating with people," said Ali Burnham of the Highland Park Strong Run Club, "and I went for a walk – and that started to feel better, and that walk turned into a jog - and finally, I started putting thoughts together. It felt like the synapses were firing in my brain again. And it just - it just made me feel normal."
Normal is a feeling Highland Park residents forgot how to feel. And so a group of marathoners, joggers, and complete novices who connected online started showing up at the Highland Park entrance to the Green Bay Trail to feel again.
"I mean, how can you process a shooting in your community?" said Cathy Curran of the run club.
Curran always ran alone. So did club member Samantha Steed.
Burnham, the group's founder, hadn't run in 10 years. But now, about a year into the run club, she had no hesitation hitting the trail with Hickey.
"Back then, I ran alone - but it's really amazing to have people to get me out. You know, I have two young kids - and when I don't get a good night's sleep, and I just want to stay in bed, this group makes sure I get out," Burnham said. "We run at 6 on Wednesdays and 7 on Saturdays - and those mornings can be tough."
As they ran, Hickey asked Burnham why the run feels like therapy.
"I just felt foggy - and I got out one day and started to run, and it was the first time I could put some thoughts together," Burnham said.
Putting thoughts together led to feeling stronger - with a team.
"To be able to do it with people who are going through similar things - or having similar thoughts and struggles - especially after the event, it's been nice to have people to run with and talk about things," Curran said.
Runners of all levels participate, Burnham emphasized.
"We have walkers, we have runners, we have hardcore marathoners who have done 20 marathons," she said.
The finish line is the Highland Park Strong Half Marathon, 5K and 1 Mile, formerly known as the North Shore Classic - which is set for this coming Sunday, June 4, in honor of the victims of the 4th of July tragedy.
The Highland Park Community Foundation is the charity partner - fundraising for their July 4th Highland Park Shooting Response Fund.
"The goal was to get everybody in the community out," Burnham said.
The Highland Park Strong Run Club is happy to add anyone to its unconventional therapy group - and to honor the community members they lost.
"There's just this commonality; there's this positivity in this group," Burnham said.
More information on the Sunday race is available at this link.
