David Iwaszko gave some thoughts to quitting.
Running in his first Chicago Marathon Oct. 11, he wasn’t feeling too bad during the first half of it.
Then the Bank of America vice president and former Calumet City police officer hit the 14th mile.
“I felt a pain in my right knee,” Iwaszko said. “I was like ‘Jesus, this isn’t feeling good.’’’
He soldiered on and a few miles later, the leg was getting tight while the knee was barking, so he tried to alternate between walking and running.
“My cardio felt good, but my legs weren’t cooperating,” he said. “I had two options. I could tough this thing out or just call for a ride. I didn’t want to quit, but it was pretty painful.”
Iwaszko, however, doesn’t shy away from challenges. Since 2020, he lost 140 pounds and the 55-year-old wasn’t going to call for any rides. He chose to finish.
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It was a good thing, too, because waiting for him at the finish line were family members, including a pair of grandsons, Mateo and Luka, who were there to greet and hug him.
He didn’t know they were going to be there.
“I didn’t count on anyone being there,” he said. “I didn’t expect to make it down there. Mateo had a football game and I didn’t think they could make it. It was cool to see them and they got to see all of the people and what a big event it was.”
It was much nicer to have the family see him finish the race on foot instead of in a vehicle.
“I always say that you always have to put your mind to do something and then you do it,” Iwaszko said. “I want my grandsons to have that mindset. A ‘don’t quit’ mindset.”
Iwasko finished the marathon in 6 hours and 32.37 seconds. He was hoping for 5 or 5 1/2 hours. But given his leg problems, just finishing was a huge accomplishment.
He wanted to measure up to former Cubs great Anthony Rizzo, who ran a 5:34.54.
“If it wasn’t for the knee, I think I could have gotten his time,” Iwaszko said. “And he was a professional athlete.”
Iwaszko is 5-foot-6 and in 2020, he was up to 307 pounds. He now hangs around the 165-170 range.
“My motivation is that I never want to get back to that size again,” he said. “And my motivation is being around for my grandkids.”
Iwaszko said it was a matter of a lifestyle change. When he was at his peak eating capacity, he could down a meal of 12 chicken wings, a large order of fries and two Dr Peppers with no problem.
“If you want to gain weight, that’s definitely the way to do it,” he said. “But how I live now is to eat less and burn more calories.”
Running came into a picture to burn many of those calories and he has a love-hate relationship with it.
“I won’t say that I like running, because I really don’t,” he said. “But for your body, it’s great and it’s good for the mindset.”
He didn’t run the marathon with headphones and he chooses not to do practice runs with them, either.
“I run early in the morning and running through the neighborhood and hearing the birds chirping and hearing nature, you get a chance to be alone with yourself.”
Up next for Iwaszko?
He is going to get ready to rumble.
He is scheduled to take park at the Real Estate Rumble at 6 p.m. on Thursday at the Park West in Chicago.
It’s a charity boxing event featuring workers from real estate, lending and construction industries with money going to the Chicago HOPES for Kids organization.
This will be his first time in the ring, although he trained for a fight a few years ago that did not take place.
“My legs are good enough that I can go back to training for that,” he said. “I need to train for this or else I’m going to get knocked out. It’s just another one of those great things to start when you’re 55.
“I met the guy I’m fighting and he’s my age or a year or two older. It’s not like it’s going to be Ali vs. Frazier.”
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Jeff Vorva is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.