(The following is a transcription of the full broadcast story)
Plenty of competitive racers were out in front of St. Vincent hospital Saturday at the 49th annual Bellin 5K and 10K race, but many say the annual event is about more than winning.
Watch the racers in the video below:
"I love this part of the morning where all the runners are coming in," Assistant Race Director Linda Maxwell said a half hour before the race began Saturday. "The excitement, the nerves, you can see it out there."
That's when we met Josh Rider and his friends, most of whom are running the race for the first time this year.
"Feeling pretty optimistic," Rider said
"It's just a lot of positive energy," Rider's friend Drew Demmin said.
"Most of us got pretty good sleep and [a] good dinner," Rider said.
"Just kind of the achievement of it," Rider said. "Just being able to go out and say that you did it."
One man brought hand cycling back to this year's Bellin Run. The sport hadn't been featured in the race since before the pandemic. But, Matthew Barber says this is his last race for a while.
"I've done everything I needed to do in hand cycling," Barber said. "It's not a very well known sport, but us in the disabled community like it to stay active and get out and enjoy the scenery."
15 years after his first time hand cycling in the Bellin Race, he says this was a great last ride.
"It was a nice capstone to my hand cycling career," Barber said.
Race organizers say about 7,500 people registered for the race. They say that is on par with the last few years, building up participation after COVID.
