Sun, Sep 27, 2026
Ottawa, IL
Entry is $30 now and rises to $35 after Aug 28, 2026, so registering before then saves $5.
The race runs along the river at Heritage Harbor, putting water views in front of you for most of the course. It is organized by the local sheriff's office and benefits Special Olympics Illinois, so the crowd at the start tends to include people there for the cause as much as the clock. The harbor setting is genuinely scenic.
Free race emails
In for this one or still deciding, keep race season near Ottawa on your radar: a Monday look ahead and a Thursday rundown of the weekend's races.
Two helpful emails per week. No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Going by the 2025 results, this is a small, friendly field, with a competitive front end and a big recreational middle.
5K · 2025 results
Top 3: John Collet (20:16) · Joseph Imbrogno (22:42) · Joe Bornac (23:05)
The Run the River for Respect 5K has been held every year since at least 2025. That is as far back as RunSignup's records for this race go, so it may well be older.
Enter a finish time to see where it lands against the most recent 5K results.
How we calculate these stats: RunSesh calculates these figures from the most recent published results of past editions, sourced from RunSignup. We show aggregates only: field size, winning and median times, and the cutoff. We never publish individual finisher tables. Last updated Jul 27, 2026.
Set a goal and get a pace band: every mile split on a card sized for your phone lock screen, so race morning needs no math.
Traveling for this race? The map shows hotels and rentals in and around Ottawa — pan or zoom to compare what's nearby.
The map is provided by Stay22. If you book through it, RunSesh may earn a commission at no extra cost to you — it never affects the races we list.
Almost certainly not. Half the 5K field finished slower than 35:48, and the last recorded finisher came in around 59:56, so there is a long tail of runners behind the middle of the pack. Most fields are far slower than people expect.
It is a small race (52 finishers), which is friendlier and less intimidating than a big-city event, though the field thins out. There is no qualifying time, and the finish-time spread above shows how varied the field really is. If it is your first 5K, that spread matters more than the winner's time.
The 5K winner ran 20:16 while the median finisher took 35:48. That spread points to a mixed field, with a competitive front and a big recreational middle.
