By Matt Simonette

Staff writer

“Whether its hot or cold there’s always going to be a group there waiting to run. It’s a peer pressure thing,” said Corbin Woodling, secretary of Frontrunners/Frontwalkers Chicago, about the running club he’s been in since 1990.

The group, formed in 1982, has been preparing to celebrate its 25th anniversary with both a reception at Gerber/Hart Library August 19 and a brunch at the Signature Room September 15.

At the Gerber/Hart reception, the club plans to donate its archives to the library.

“(Gerber/Hart) has been a beneficiary of Proud to Run for eight years,” Woodling said. “It seemed like it should be the place to go if you want to read about our history.”

FR/FW Chicago was formed by Peg Grey, Rob Williams and Jim White after the first Proud to Run race in 1982.

“At the time, there weren’t many gay sports leagues,” Woodling said. “There was pretty much bowling and that was it. After Proud to Run, (Grey, Williams and White) asked, ‘Why does this have to have to be a once-a-year thing?’”

The group took their name from Patricia Nell Warren’s 1973 novel, “The Front Runner.” There are currently about 95 Frontrunners organizations in cities around the world.

The club began seeing a regular turnout from both runners and walkers and settled into its regular schedule, meeting for regular runs Tuesday evenings at 6:30 p.m. and Saturday mornings at 9 a.m.

“It’s like a framework,” Woodling said, adding that runners would turn out in all kinds of weather. “Even in the winter, we’ll get some hardcores. I’ll just throw on a few more layers. In the last blizzard, I think about a dozen people showed up.”

Proud to Run this year had 765 people registered, with 635 people finishing. The 25th anniversary was especially emotional for many members, however, since the club retired the number of Peg Grey, who died earlier this year, and presented it to her partner, Grace Leudke.

“Peg was the driving force behind the race and the club. She wasn’t coming often anymore, but when she did, it was like a homecoming,” Woodling said.

The club is also planning for its water station in the Chicago Marathon October 7. Past themes have included The Wizard of Oz and Brokeback Mountain. Frontrunners regularly wins the competition for best water station.

“Each year it gets larger,” Woodling said. “We had about 225 people last year.”

He said developing a theme each year is one of the club’s most difficult tasks, adding, “All the gay stuff has been done already.”