Fast-moving Pumpkins Roll Downhill in Annual Naperville Race

The average pumpkin isn’t built for speed unless it’s customized somehow and rolled down a hill.

That’s what Bill Deschaaf and his son Will, 5, of Naperville, were doing Saturday.

For the third year, the Turning Pointe Autism Foundation hosted the annual Naperville Pumpkin Race Saturday at Rotary Hill in downtown Naperville.

Barb Brauer, director of development for Turning Pointe Autism Foundation, said the goal of the annual race “is to have a community event for every age and ability.”

Brauer said that a year ago the event drew 600 to 700 people and the hope was that Saturday’s perfect fall weather would draw even more.

“This is something for people from 3 to 93 years old, and every ability level,” she said. “We get kids with autism and special needs here, but almost half of the people that come out are people without any disabilities. But we sell kits not as a fundraiser but to give our kids vocational skills by putting them together.”