Hello friendly faces! It’s that time of the week! It’s a new Chicago North Shore Moms spotlight brought to you in part by Mary Gifford of Gifford Law. This week we’re introducing you to the lovely Glenview mom, who, by the end of this interview, had us feeling like we had run a marathon with her!
Christi Sube is full of momentum. The IT finance systems analyst and small business owner took over as the community coordinator for Healthy Kids Running Series (HKRS) Glenview/Northbrook in 2022, a 5-week running series that runs in the spring and fall, just one of 250 locations nationwide. A Buffalo Grove native, and by way of a diverse home base journey, she now calls Glenview home, where she lives with her husband and eight-year-old daughter. Christi’s enthusiasm, tremendous energy and community spirit are absolutely infectious. Get to know this local community leader, how you can enroll your child(ren) in the fall 2024 running series, or even get your local business involved as a HKRS community partner, just like Chicago North Shore Moms! Welcome, Christi!
Hi Christi! Please introduce yourself. Where are you from originally? What city do you live in now? What brought you here?
Hi! I’m Christi Sube the community coordinator for Healthy Kids Runnings Series – Glenview/Northbrook (HKRS for short). I’m also an IT finance systems analyst for a large aerospace and industrial manufacturing company in Niles, and the new owner of Gabriel’s Closet which is a children’s consignment boutique in Park Ridge. I grew up in Buffalo Grove and now live in Glenview with my husband and 8 year old daughter. While Buffalo Grove and Glenview are not very far apart, my route from one to the other was a long one that took me through Indiana, Ohio, North Carolina (2 times), South Carolina and Pennsylvania over a span of about 20 years.
My husband and I moved from Charlotte to Chicago 12 years ago when I accepted a leadership role with my prior company, and after our daughter was born we outgrew our condo in Logan Square and made our way to Glenview. I took over the role of community coordinator for HKRS in the spring of 2022 around the same time as I hit a reset button in my career and left the corporate management life behind. Now I’m enjoying working hands-on in the IT department of a much smaller company, loving everything about our HKRS Glenview/Northbrook series, and I am excited to start my journey as a small business owner.
Has your daughter caught the running bug?
My daughter turned 8 last weekend and I absolutely love seeing how her personality has started to evolve the past couple of years. Her current favorites are running, gymnastics, playing arcade games, listening to Taylor Swift, crafting, collecting Pokemon cards and eating sushi.
What are one or two fun facts to know about you?
When I was in 5th grade I did a three week foreign exchange program and lived with a family in France. That led me to minor in French in college and spend a semester studying at a business school in Rouen which is about two hours northwest of Paris.
What are your favorite North Shore places, spaces and eats to frequent?
Our favorite restaurant is hands down Montira Thai and Sushi in the Glen (remember my daughter LOVES sushi). Dairy Bar in Downtown Glenview is our go to ice cream place. We also love to hang out with friends at Macushla Brewing Co. You can bring your own food so each kid can eat something different, and they have lots of board games to keep kids busy. Wednesdays in the summer you’ll find us at the Northfield Market & Music events at Clarkson Park (look for my HKRS tent on August 7, 2024!) and the Innovation Center at the Glenview Library is an absolutely amazing place to learn new techniques and make use of all of their maker equipment.
What are you reading and watching?
Lately all my reading/watching has been focused on things I need to learn as a new business owner or finding inspiration for new ways to market the HKRS program to runners and sponsors.
Your go to family-friendly dinners… go!
Charcuterie and homemade pizza are always a hit. My husband is an amazing pizza chef and make his own dough and then fires up his pizza oven on our back patio.
Your mantra?
You can’t make everyone happy, so just be a kind human.
Let’s get down to business. Please introduce Healthy Kids Running Series (HKRS). What is it?
HKRS is a national, community-based nonprofit that provides an inclusive five-week running series each spring and fall for ages 2-14. The program is designed for kids to get active, feel accomplished and lay the foundation for a healthy lifestyle. HKRS was founded in 2009 and is celebrating its 15 year anniversary this year. There are currently over 250 HKRS programs in cities around the country, and I’m the community coordinator (CC) for the Glenview/Northbrook program.
The HKRS program was launched in Glenview in the fall of 2018 and has had three CC’s prior to me. I took over as CC in the spring of 2022 when the prior CC stepped down. Since our inception locally in 2018, we’ve had over 1,900 runners from Glenview, Northbrook, Wilmette and other surrounding cities crossing our finish lines.
What is your why?
It’s really hard to pick just a few reasons to write down here because there are honestly a LOT of reasons why I love HKRS. Here are just a few reasons:
I love HKRS because my daughter loves HKRS. She started in the 50-yard dash virtual race on our sidewalk during the pandemic. Now she’s running in the 1/2 mile race, regularly runs in local 5K races and just finished her first Track & Field camp.
I love HKRS because I can see the impact our program has on our runners’ lives. They put their toes on the starting line week after week, rain or shine, they work hard, and they improve their times in just 5 weeks! Their smiles and the sense of pride that I can see on their faces at our Week 5 race fill up my heart!
I love HKRS because I get an opportunity to work with local business owners and help them grow their businesses. Some sponsors I knew personally before I became CC, others found us based on their personal connection to another sponsor, and others simply took the time to read an email or Facebook message that I sent with no prior introduction. No matter how they found us, each of them fully support our HKRS mission and the kids in our community like our sponsor Chicago North Shore Moms!
I love HKRS because I get to do things that are completely different from what I do in my full-time job. Race day logistics, social media marketing, volunteer coordinating, and fundraising are things I hadn’t done much of before joining HKRS. I keep learning each season, and it turns out that I enjoy these things enough to head down the path of owning my own business.
How are the races organized?
HKRS is a five-week program that takes place in both the spring and fall seasons. Typically, race day for Glenview/Northbrook is Sunday afternoon. Each week our runners run a race where their race distance is based on their age/grade. We start each race day with a 50 yard dash for our youngest runners and work our way up in distance through the 75 yard dash, 1/4 mile, 1/2 mile and 1 mile races. We time the runners in the 1/4 mile, 1/2 mile and 1 mile races and publish their results each week so that they can see their improvement and set a goal for each race. All of our runners receive an official HKRS participation medal at the end of the 5th race and some participants may receive a trophy based on points earned throughout the Series.
There are many HKRS programs in the Chicagoland area and you can find the list of cities where we have fall races being planned on the main HRKS website.
What advice do you have for parents who want to get reluctant kids involved?
Bring a friend! Even if you child and their friend are different ages and don’t run in the same race they can cheer each other on. While we don’t offer any organized training sessions between the races, there is a series of training videos for the 1/4 mile, 1/2 mile and 1 mile races on the main HKRS website. If your runner would like to try a single race before committing to the full 5 week series, we do offer single race day registration on-site at the park on race days beginning one hour before the start of the races.
Are there any early bird discounts?
Early bird pricing is available now through August 18, 2024 and saves you $5 per runner. Register today here!
Are you still taking sponsors? If so what do you want potential sponsors to know?
Yes! We are always looking for new local businesses to partner with via our sponsorship program. We help our local sponsors reach and meet new families in the community through online advertising and race day onsite and in-person opportunities. Your financial donation made as a sponsor helps to offset the operational costs that our series incurs to bring each race series to life. You can find information about our sponsorship options HERE, and please reach out to me ([email protected]) if you have a business in the Glenview/Northbrook area and are interested in sponsoring our local races. I’d love to learn about your business and help you to get the word out in our community!
You recently took over ownership of a children’s consignment store in Park Ridge called Gabriel’s Closet. Congratulations and tell us about this business!
Thank you! As of July 1, 2024 I am the new owner of Gabriel’s Closet, which is a children’s consignment boutique located in Uptown Park Ridge at 428 W. Touhy Ave. Buying the store has taken my hobby of buying and selling used children’s clothes, toys, gear for my own family and friends to the next level. I’ve always been an avid re-user and recycler and try to keep as much as I can out of the landfill as possible. Now through the store, I have a way to help more families in the area do the same by selling the items that they consign with us.
We sell clothes, accessories, gear, books, and toys. We aim to provide a fun, relaxing, boutique experience without the boutique prices. You’ll find many unique brands in our store, with inventory that is priced 50-75% below retail prices. We sell many of our items online and offer local pickup in the store or shipping nationwide. Our Summer Sale is going on now in-store with all remaining spring/summer items discounted an additional 50%.
Is there anything else you’d like us to know about HKRS Glenview/Northbrook?
I’d love to see our series grow again this season and would love to meet your young runners at our starting lines this fall. Registration for our fall 2024 series in Glenview/Northbrook is already open, and races all be held at Willow Park in Glenview on Sundays at 3:00 from Sept. 8th – Oct. 6th, 2024. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram @hkrsglenview as we countdown to our first race day. Register here and see you at the races!
About our Meet of Mom Sponsor
A very heartfelt thank you to CNSM Meet a Mom sponsor, Lake Forest mom of three and owner of Gifford Law, a solo Estate Planning Firm (wills and trusts). Mary, we appreciate your support of local moms in our North Shore communities! Learn more about Mary by visiting her Meet a Mom spotlight here! Contact Mary directly here: [email protected].
