Anytime an 81-year-old woman can finish a 26-mile marathon, it has to be an inspiration.
Go, Granny, go, Granny, go, Granny, go.
All along the Old Style Chicago Marathon course Sunday and everywhere she went afterward, Ann Clark received congratulations. Numerous spectators walked up and shook her hand and asked her to pose for photos.
”Why would an 81-year-old woman do something like this?” Clark said with a smile. ”Because I`m addicted to running. I used to run a lot more. I could only run 18 miles this time, but I still finished. I didn`t feel very good the last six miles.”
The Carol Stream fitness teacher and retired second-grade teacher finished the marathon in 5 hours 46 minutes. She trained for Sunday`s event with a regimen of jogging one mile and walking fast for a mile, building up to 20 miles.
”My legs are a little sore right now,” she said. ”I`m sure they`ll cramp up tonight.”
Clark, who took up running at 64, said Sunday probably would be her final marathon.
”I know I`ve said it before, that this is my last one,” Clark said.
”But I think it`s time I better try something else. There comes a time when I`ll have to slow down a bit. I think I`ll start concentrating on race-walking.”
– Wheelchair marathon winner Jim Knaub and runner-up Doug Kennedy had such a close finish that their wheelchairs bumped at the finish line. Knaub, of Long Beach, Calif., edged Kennedy, of Haleyville, Ala., in a rivalry that livens up the marathon circuit. Knaub`s time of 1:42:34 set a Chicago course record. Kennedy was one second behind.
”I`ve been second all year long,” Kennedy said in tribute to Knaub.
”We often finish 1-2. The course was pretty flat until the last mile with that incline. That was the breaking point of the race, where Jim and I left everyone else.”
Ann Cody-Morris of Urbana was the top women`s wheelchair competitor with a time of 1:53:33, sixth overall. A fraction of a second behind her was Champaign`s Jean Driscoll.
– Rogaine 5K winner Terry Brahm of Bloomington, Ind., had a colorful analogy for the start of Sunday`s event, which had a total of 10,000 participants in the 5K and marathon events.
”It was like the invasion of Europe,” Brahm said. ”It was like D-Day.”
Brahm, a former track star at Indiana, sprinted to edge Aaron Ramirez of Albuquerque by one second with a time of 13:51. Timothy Hacker of Madison, Wis., was third at 13:53, and a fraction of a second behind him was Mexico`s Mauricio Hernandez.
Former Fenton High School star and a Hoosier teammate of Brahm`s, Jim Spivey, was sixth at 13:57.
– The first area finisher in Sunday`s marathon was Chicago`s Dennis Keane, who was 24th with a time of 2:26:31. Bensenville`s Kathy Kubicki was the area`s first woman finisher with a time of 2:58:03.
– No wonder women`s marathon winner Aurora Cunha of Portugal remains so slender. Aside from burning up calories with her long-distance occupation, she doesn`t eat much. Her pre-marathon meal Sunday morning: two slices of bread with jelly and a cup of tea.
– The awards stand had an international flavor. The 1-2-3 male finishers were from Mexico, Poland and New Zealand, respectively. The top three women represented Portugal, Canada and Sweden.
– Polish runner Tadeusz Lawicki, whose trip to Chicago included a reunion with a sister he had not seen in 10 years, finished 12th in 2:15:11. He was one of three Poles in the top 12, with Antoni Niemczak second and Jan Huruk sixth.
There were four Mexicans in the top 15.
– The top two finishers, Martin Pitayo of Mexico and Niemczak, averaged 4:56.8 per mile. The top women`s finisher, Portugal`s Cunha (37th overall), averaged 5:43.8.
– Although Rex Wilson became the fastest marathoner in New Zealand with a 2:10:48 to finish third, that will not guarantee him a spot in next year`s World Championships. Wilson said the New Zealand track federation is asking for a 2:10:30 before it will pay for the trip to Japan.
– The weather would have been perfect but for the wind that created a wind-chill factor of 20 degrees early in the race. Despite that cold, medical officials reported no cases of hypothermia.
![The box truck was parked beside a quiet sidewalk in the West Loop. A few people stopped, glancing curiously at the image flashing on its trailer: a young man, his expression resolute but tinged with sadness. Below his figure was a message in bold letters: “Chicagoan kidnapped by Hamas.” “He’s always up there,” said the truck’s driver, Jeremiah Smith, 27, as he stared at the image. “I always know that.” Twelve hours a day, six days a week, Smith drives the truck through the Chicago area, raising awareness for the scores of Israeli hostages held captive by Hamas. But the […]](https://www.chicagotribune.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/CTC-L-truck-driver-17_194009220.jpg?w=525 "The box truck was parked beside a quiet sidewalk in the West Loop. A few people stopped, glancing curiously at the image flashing on its trailer: a young man, his expression resolute but tinged with sadness. Below his figure was a message in bold letters: “Chicagoan kidnapped by Hamas.” “He’s always up there,” said the truck’s driver, Jeremiah Smith, 27, as he stared at the image. “I always know that.” Twelve hours a day, six days a week, Smith drives the truck through the Chicago area, raising awareness for the scores of Israeli hostages held captive by Hamas. But the […]")