St. Joseph School held their annual Tailgate Trot 5K/2.5K Run on Saturday, September 26th finding runners from as far as Oklahoma City joining in the fun. Nearly 350 runners participated in this year's event with Naperville resident, Jason Moderi successfully defending last years title win with a 17:28.8 run. Now running about three races per month, he has increased his endurance. He's added duathelon's to his routine to kick it up a notch. SJS Alumnus and Benet sophomore Brendan Gesior, who took second in last year's race placed ninth overall this year. Moderi and Gesior found each other at the starting line. Looking over the competition, Moderi told Gesior, "This race looks a little stiffer than last year!" Gesior agreed. After finishing the competition, Gesior added, "I found it a bit tougher now that I'm not training as much in high school."

St. Joseph alumnus, Matt Dickey joined this year's race to support his alma mater. Dickey, donning his old St. Joseph track shirt for the race, left his mark with two track records up on the board at St. Joe. Running track as a senior at Benet Academy, he and his team missed qualifying for state last year by just .28 seconds, but he and his Benet teammates hope to take down records this year for Benet. "It's my dream to make it to state this year."

Oklahoma City resident James Novak and his son Henry often run with James' brother, Fr. William Novak of Yukon, Oklahoma. So while in Downers Grove for a family wedding, the three joined in the fun before the family festivities. "We enjoyed the community atmosphere and hope to bring it back to Oklahoma City to our own grammar school." Novak has always wanted to create a 5K race for his son's school and looks at this as his motivation.

Following Moderi for second place was Matt Wyble of Chicago (18:00.7) and Scott Mejdrich of Lisle (18:06.4). Overall female winner with a finishing time of 19:51.9 was Angela Homberg of Downers Grove, followed by Cheryl Harms (21:54.6) and Erin Weltler(24:16.8).