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 historical conditions on this event's race dates in Downers Grove.
Course
Route map and elevation profile
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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🏃 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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