Sunday, May 6, 2018 • Palos Heights, IL
More than 1,500 runners cross the finish line each year in the Southwest Half Marathon, an out-and-back road race that starts and finishes in front of the City Hall building in Palos Heights and takes runners on a mostly flat and mostly straightaway course that features just three turns throughout the entire race.
Designed to benefit local charity and nonprofit organizations like the Southwest Recreation Department and Prostate Cancer Prevention, the 13.1-mile race unfolds almost entirely along Route 83 through town, with a turnaround at the half-way point just before the Illinois Route 171 intersection.
Several miles of the course feature views of the Calumet-Sag River that runs through the city, and of the wooded forest areas along the river that give the city its reputation as a “City of Trees.”
To help stir interest in what is expected to be a scenic and well-attended race event, race organizers plan to give participants who sign up for the race a gender-specific Nike technical running t-shirt. There will also be a half-mile race event called the “Walk & Roll,” designed especially for special needs children.
Last year’s running added the 10K distance for the first time. The “Walk, Run or Roll” half-mile race starts right after the half marathon runners leave the starting line.
Race Weather & Climate
Located on the suburban outskirts of the city, about 20 miles from downtown Chicago, the area known as Palos Heights typically sees mild to moderately cool and occasionally wet weather in May, which has brought record temperatures here as low as 28ºF (in 1981) and as high as 102ºF (in 1934).
On race day (May 6), the average low is 48ºF and the average high is 68ºF.
Past Results
- 2017 Southwest Half Marathon Results
- 2016 Southwest Half Marathon Results
- 2014 First Midwest Bank Half Marathon Results
- 2013 First Midwest Bank Half Marathon Results
- 2012 First Midwest Bank Half Marathon Results
Starting Time
7:30 AM
Fees
See race website
Registration
To reserve your spot in the 2018 running of Palos Heights’s Southwest Half Marathon or 10K race, register online at Active.com here.
