New Jersey man running 1,100 miles for humanity to reach Crystal Lake on Friday

A New Jersey man running about 1,100 miles in eight trips all over the country to “celebrate the power of humanity” will be in Crystal Lake on Friday and Woodstock the rest of the weekend running and listening to people’s stories.

Larry Grogin, 64, a chiropractor and acupuncturist, will be doing eight trips throughout the country for his campaign, Strides for Humanity. He started July 19 in Patterson, New Jersey, and will be ending in Ventura, California, running in the Ventura Marathon on Oct. 20. Grogin’s goal is to run about 30 miles a day.

The weekend’s events will start at 3:30 p.m. Friday at Depot Park in Crystal Lake, said Rob Glaubke, a member of the steering committee for Strides for Humanity. The 10-mile run will begin at 4 p.m. on the Route 14 bike path leading into Woodstock with a run through Woodstock Square. Grogin will be a part of the opioid forum at 8 p.m. at Warp Corp.

On Saturday, Grogin will begin his run at 8 a.m. in Woodstock Square, but the full route is undecided. He will return to the square by 10:30 a.m. and have a meet and greet until 1 p.m., Glaubke said. At 1 p.m. Grogin will go for his afternoon run, leaving from the Square. Grogin will end the day at the McHenry County Fair.

Grogin will be a part of the we.CAN.tri triathlon starting at 7 a.m. Sunday at Emricson Park. After the triathlon, he will go for another run, leaving from the park.

Grogin is using this run as a fundraiser. He already has donated $50,000 to Oasis, a nonprofit haven for women and children, according to a news release from Strides for Humanity.

Originally, Grogin was going to run across the country from his home in Franklin Lakes, New Jersey, to California, about 3,200 miles, but after a recent diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease, the plan changed to a set of trips. Grogin is inviting people to join him on his runs in any way they can and share their stories.

“With this year’s run, our goal is to celebrate the power of humanity by embracing individuals from all walks of life and sharing what makes them unique and thus makes our country so special,” Grogin said.

Grogin ran in the Boston Marathon in 2013 and was steps away from the finish line when the first bomb went off, according to the release. The next spring, Grogin ran 250 miles from Franklin Lakes, New Jersey, to Boston, where he competed in the Boston Marathon. Grogin used this as a fundraising campaign and donated $250,000 to Paul Newman’s Hole in the Wall Gang Camp.

The trips cover different regions of the U.S. This third one is for the Midwest.

“[The first two trips] exceeded our wildest expectations,” Grogin said.

For information or to donate, go to stridesforhumanity.org.