A cancer survivor who has a child with special needs, Cindy Morris said she found time to train for a half-marathon.
On Sunday, the Naperville woman reached her goal and completed a 13.1-mile race at the Fox Valley Marathon, an event that included a full 26.2-mile marathon and a 20-mile race in downtown St. Charles.
“I have a special-needs child to care for so my daily runs are a stress-reliever and give me something to focus on,” said Morris, 44, who sported pink goggles. “I am also a cancer survivor. I started pretty big into running after that. It’s been my motivation — (cancer) wasn’t going to get me.”
Morris and her friend Diana Thompson, of Naperville, joined about 3,000 runners for races along the Fox River Trail. The longer races took runners through Geneva, Batavia, North Aurora, Aurora and back to downtown St. Charles.
Thompson acknowledged the training for her third half-marathon was a jaw-clenching process for the entire duration.
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“I like the rewards of finishing, but I don’t like having to get up early in the morning to hit the pavement for two-hour runs,” Thompson said. “The body starts to ache after a while.”
Audrey Wood — along with her three children, Elizabeth, 5; Braden, 6; and Addison, 10 — were on the sidelines to cheer her husband, Keith Wood, who was running the half-marathon.
“We’re having doughnuts to keep our energy up,” said Audrey Wood, of Geneva. “We run as a family, but I’m not running this year. We have to take turns to support one another.”
St. Charles Mayor Ray Rogina embarked on his fourth half-marathon.
“This has become one of the premiere fall races in the Chicagoland area,” Rogina said. “Running is a lifelong activity for some of us. I’m not in it to break any records.”
Aurora marathon runner Debra Pendell said she appreciates how running keeps her physically fit.
“I feel healthier than when I was younger, so it makes turning 40 not so bad,” said Pendell, who ran her fourth marathon.
Runners said the Fox Valley Marathon lived up to its billing as a small-town race with big-race amenities. Runners were in heats of 200.
“It has the comfortable feel of a small race with all of the perks of a big race, and the support along the course is amazing,” Pendell said.
Participants received medals when they completed their races. New this year: Anyone who set a personal record could ring a bell when participants were recognized on the post-race stage.
Race co-director Dave Sheble said the Fox Valley Marathon is three weeks before the Chicago Marathon, so participants can complete their final 20-mile training run in a race environment.
“There’s a nice series of race options and a beautiful course that people can train on all summer,” Sheble said Saturday.
Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory physicist JJ Schmidt is a “running muse” for many of the runners that walk from his house in downtown St. Charles to the starting line. Schmidt began running in his 30s to keep up with his kids. Not counting ultramarathons, Sunday’s was his 28th marathon.
“It’s fulfilling when runners on the course and spectators recognize me,” said Schmidt, 68.
Schmidt manages a Fermilab facility where scientists test prototype detectors for experiments, but he said he doesn’t take an analytical approach to training, although he admits die-hard runners do keep meticulous records of their training and races.
“I’m an experimentalist. I learn by doing and observing my friends, so when I give out advice for running, it is pretty good advice,” he said.
Newly remarried Courtney Wulf, of South Elgin, in her sixth Fox Valley race, said she appreciated that organizers corrected the records to reflect her new last name.
“What keeps me coming back is that you receive an endurance medal that reflects the number of years you have finished either a half-marathon or the 26.2-mile race,” Wulf said.
Wulf, 38, said she plans to run the New York City Marathon in November, so this year she settled for completing the half-marathon in 1 hour, 50 minutes.
“I like the hard parts and the way you feel after you finish a race. I like the competitiveness to beat my previous best time — that’s the monster behind all of it,” Wulf said.
Linda Girardi is a freelance reporter for the Beacon-News.
Fox Valley Marathon top finishers
Male
Marathon: Jeff Wysong, of Chicago, 2:30:11
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20-miler: Mitch Gilbert, of Naperville, 2:04:10
Half-marathon: Damon King, of Chicago, 1:13:34
Female
Marathon: Jamie Mayer, of Naperville, 3:19:40
20-miler: Kelley Gallagher, of Mundelein, 2:19:01
Half marathon: Andrea Kruska, of Naperville, 1:24:02