Ben's Memorial Mile & Community Festival
About this race
Ben's Memorial Mile & Community Festival is an annual event hosted in downtown Downers Grove to raise money/awareness for mental health and to honor the life of Ben Silver.
The event consists of a little kids' 100-meter dash followed by two chip-timed, one-mile road races for runners and walkers. Prices will increase to $25 for the open and elite miles after July 8th. The little kids' 100-meter dash is free.
We will again have T-shirts, but you must select if you would like one during your registration process (they are $10 each). You must register by July 22 to get a T-shirt.
The community festival consists of live music, concessions, raffles, mental-health booths, fitness booths, art booths, kids activities, a food truck (snow cones & shaved ice), and corn hole. The community festival is FREE to attend. Ben's Memorial Mile is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, and all proceeds are donated to mental-health foundations.
Pick your distance
Running
Open Mile (runners/walkers slower than 6:30 for 1 mile)
This is a timed, one-mile road race for walkers and runners completing one mile in more than 6 minutes and 30 seconds. You must be off the course prior to 6:30 PM.
Elite Mile (6:30 or faster for 1 mile)
This is a timed, one-mile road race for runners completing one mile in 6 minutes and 30 seconds or faster. You must be off the course no later than 6:45 PM.
Typical race-day weather
Based on 3 years of Open-Meteo archive data for this event's race dates in Downers Grove, plus the 3 days either side.
The sun rises at 5:53 AM and sets at 8:01 PM local time (CDT) in Downers Grove on August 8, 2026 — 14h 08m of daylight.
Course
No course map published yet.
The organizer hasn't released a route for this event, and we don't publish guesses. If you're the organizer, send us a GPX file and we'll draw the profile.
Reviews
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2026 results — Ben's Memorial Mile & Community Festival
133 finishers across 2 distances · leading places in the Open Mile (runners/walkers slower than 6:30 for 1 mile)
| Place | Name | Time | Pace |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Caleb Modica | 6:28 | 6:28 /mi |
| 2 | B. Cartwright | 6:29 | 6:29 /mi |
| 3 | C. Jones | 6:41 | 6:41 /mi |
| 4 | J. Fortier | 6:43 | 6:43 /mi |
| 5 | Nick DelMonte | 6:55 | 6:55 /mi |
Every finisher is on the results page, filterable by distance, gender and age group.
All results by year
Other races near Downers Grove
Different organizers, within 40 miles, in the next three months
Grove Express 5K
The Fall Color 5K
Lisle Turkey Trot Tune-Up 5K
Pine Pacer Challenge
🏃 Plan Your Next Race in Downers Grove
Find upcoming events by distance:
- Downers Grove 5K Races 4 races
- Downers Grove Running Calendar 2026 6 races
Where this page comes from. Race details were last updated on . We re-check listings regularly and again in the week before race day.
- Entries, prices, waves and inclusions — the event's official registration page
- Temperature and humidity — Copernicus ERA5 reanalysis via Open-Meteo (CC BY 4.0)
- Elevation and terrain relief — Copernicus DEM GLO-90, ESA (CC BY 4.0)
- Comparisons and counts — Race Discovery calendar, 6 Downers Grove events
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