URBANA – The annual Christie Clinic Illinois 10K, half marathon, and full marathon race events on Saturday morning will take place as scheduled according to race officials.
According to an email sent to the public late Friday night by Meg Treat, public relations director for the event, Governor JB Pritzker, the Illinois State Police, and the cities of Champaign and Urbana worked together to staff the races with enough law enforcement to keep the runners on the courses.
Friday’s 5K race was canceled as many local police departments deployed officers to the University of Illinois campus. Protesters built an encampment near the Alma Mater statue, calling for the university to divest from companies with ties to Israel. Students formed a ring around the encampment and refused to allow law enforcement to remove it. Late Friday night, Chancellor Robert Jones announced the protesters would be given a different area on campus to protest.
Students at universities throughout the U.S. have built similar camps in support of Palestine and calling for their universities to divest from investments with ties to Israel.