2025 Ricky Byrdsong Memorial Race Against Hate

YWCA Evanston/North Shore invites you to help celebrate 26 years of the Ricky Byrdsong Memorial Race Against Hate this June!

8K & 5K Run/Walk || Youth Mile/Half Mile Fun Run

Each year, Race Against Hate, one of the largest events of its kind in the nation, brings together thousands of people every year from all over Chicagoland to run and walk in unity against racial hatred and violence.

The Ricky Byrdsong Memorial Race Against Hate was launched to honor the legacy of Ricky Byrdsong, the former Northwestern University Basketball Coach, Vice President of Affairs at Aon Corporation, and Skokie resident who was murdered by a white supremacist in 1999 while walking in his neighborhood with two of his young children. Because of Ricky’s lifelong love of sports and his compelling work with young people in the community, the Race Against Hate was launched by his family and friends in 2000 (and entrusted to YWCA Evanston/North Shore in 2007) to honor Ricky’s legacy and bring attention to the need to combat hatred in all its forms.

Also check out other Sports events in Evanston.