Graveyard 5K - Kansas City, Missouri - Running

The Graveyard 5K is a Running race in Kansas City, Missouri consisting of a 5K.

Enjoy this unique, annual fall classic 5K Run/Walk on the grounds of the north side's historic Rosehill Cemetery. Run or walk through this candle lit course on the sprawling 350-acre Victorian-era cemetery that opened in 1864. It's by far the largest cemetery in the City of Chicago (and second largest in Illinois).

Monuments! Scenic paths! And then there's the famous Chicagoans who reside in Rosehill. Among them: more than 10 Chicago mayors, Oscar Mayer, John G. Shedd, Cubs' announcer Jack Brickhouse, legendary adman Leo Burnett, Sears founder Julius Rosenwald and scores of Civil War vets are just a few of the souls who call Rosehill home.

In addition, there will also be a post run/walk party held the Fireside Restaurant at 5739 N. Ravenswood adjacent to the start line. The party offers a complimentary beverage to all participants and food packages are available for purchase.
Check out these interesting structures and monuments throughout the cemetery (find out even more at graveyards.com/IL/Cook/rosehill/:
The road into the cemetery passes under a railroad overpass that obscures the view of Rosehill's beautiful main gate. This castellated Gothic structure of Joliet Limestone was built in 1864, designed by architect William W. Boyington.

These abandoned stone stairs lead up from the area just outside Rosehill's main gate to the train tracks. When the tracks were first constructed in the previous century, the operators of the Chicago and North Western line had a special funeral car, built to hold a casket. Rosehill, Oak Woods, Waldheim and Concordia were all several miles from the city, but convenient by train. An elevator would lower the casket from the train platform to ground level.


This incredible sculpture is protected from the elements by a glass box. It dominates its small section, surrounded by a few flat headstones (including that of Horatio O. Stone, who commissioned the work when his young wife died in childbirth). The sculpture is signed C.B. Ives, Roma 1866 The Pearce monument is said to be haunted-- supposedly, on the anniversary of Frances' death, the glass box will be filled with a mysterious white mist.



The mausoleum of railroad president Darius Miller was constructed with an Egyptian motif - note the ornate column capitals, and the winged scarab above the doorway. Miller's tomb is in one of the more prestigious sections of Rosehill, near the lake and chapel.



This underground tomb, belonging to E.A. Fisher and apparently constructed in 1902, has been sealed - the stairs down to the entrance filled in with dirt, and the windows on top plugged with cement. This is commonly done to reduce maintenance costs, after an old in-ground mausoleum is filled to capacity and unlikely to receive visitors.