Savor the last days of 2024 with the December Dash Virtual 5K! Choose one of 11 Forest Preserve trails to run your own 5-kilometer race sometime in December. Download a running application to your smartphone that will track your run, run the 3.1 miles, take a screenshot of your route and submit it online. The first 100 participants will receive a December Dash long-sleeve shirt to commemorate their participation.

Trails are as follows: DuPage River Trail Hickory Creek Bikeway I&M Canal Trail Lake Renwick Bikeway Messenger Woods Nature Preserve Trail Old Plank Road Trail Plum Creek Greenway Trail Prairie Bluff Trail Rock Run Greenway Trail Spring Creek Greenway Trail Wauponsee Glacial Trail

Fee: Free! Age: All ages. No registration is required.

Submissions will be accepted until Jan. 1. Finishers will receive an email confirmation after their submission is verified. Those awarded a shirt will be provided information to pick it up from one of our visitor centers in January. Trails vary in topography and terrain type and include paved, crushed limestone and natural surface trails. Anyone who requires an auxiliary aid or service to participate in this program should submit a request online no later than 48 hours before the program.

(Photo via Shutterstock)