The 62nd running of the Jack 15 road race will include a free kids run on race day morning with T-shirts and medals for all participated.

Miller Wellness Center at South Dakota State University is conducting the race in cooperation with the Prairie Striders running club-sponsored adult race on Sept. 21.

Registration is required and will be conducted near the Clock Tower just north of the SDSU Foundation building along Medary Avenue.

Registration begins at 10 a.m. with the race at 10:45 a.m. Distances are .1 of a mile for age 5 and under, .25 mile for ages 6-8 and .5 mile for ages 9 and older.

For each age category, a new book by Billy Mills will be given as a door prize.

Mills, who is well known as a motivational speaker, has taken his first crack at writing a children’s book with “Wings of an Eagle.” He wrote about being an orphan on the Oglala Lakota Pine Ridge Reservation. Before his father was called to the ancestors, he told Billy how to conquer his suffering: 

“You have broken wings, son. You have to dig deeper, below the anger, the hurt, the self-pity. The pursuit of a dream will heal you.”

Mills dug beyond poverty, racism and severe health challenges and raced toward the goal of becoming an Olympic athlete, inspired by his indigenous ancestors who stood strong when the odds were against them. Though at times he felt like his wings were clipped — a lone bird falling from the sky — he adapted and overcame, finally earning his place at the 1964 Olympics.

Mills will talk at the South Dakota Art Museum auditorium at 7 p.m. Sept. 20. No admission will be charged, and the event is open to Jack 15 participants as well as the general public.