Weinberg sophomore Tom Vranas had never run competitively before participating in last year’s Chicago Marathon.

“It was really Forrest Gump-ish,” he said. “I started running for no reason.”

This year he had a reason.

On Sunday Vranas won the men’s 19-and-under age division of the Chicago Marathon, running on behalf of 10-year-old Nicolas Shield of Wilmette, who suffers from leukemia.

Vranas ran for the Leukemia Society of America’s Team in Training program, in which runners raise money toward a cure for leukemia.

With a time of 2:44:14, he finished 176th out of 29,000 runners, beating 154 male runners in his age division.

He beat his time last year by about 28 minutes.

“It was a lot easier to run it when you know there are kids counting on you,” Vranas said.

To raise money, Vranas contacted businesses and family friends. “Basically, I wrote to everyone in my address book and my parents’ address book,” he said.

His persistence paid off — in the form of $2,400.

Vranas said he knew he wanted to raise money toward a leukemia cure after running in last year’s Chicago Marathon, where he noticed other runners wearing purple Team in Training jerseys.

Wearing a purple jersey this year, Vranas received the same attention.

“People were lined up during the whole marathon who went nuts whenever they saw purple shirts,” he said.

Vranas’ blue hair, which he dyed on Thursday, also earned him fans.

“Go, blue hair!” was a popular crowd cheer, he said.

In addition to the throng of supporters along the course, about 15 of Vranas’ NU friends went to Chicago to watch him run the marathon.

The group stationed themselves at the 19-mile marker just south of Grant Park, which Vranas hoped to reach by 9:30 a.m.

But when the leading runners showed up at 9:10 a.m., Vranas’ friends didn’t think he would be running fast enough to appear at his estimated time, Music sophomore Beth Kirkpatrick said.

True to his word, however, Vranas reached the marker 20 minutes after the leaders.

“First, all the Kenyans came by, and then came Tom,” Kirkpatrick said.

When Vranas saw his friends, he responded to their cheers with a cartwheel.

Vranas’ finish qualified him to run in the next two Boston Marathons, which are held every April. But Vranas said he plans to skip the first one and return to being a normal college student.

Vranas started training in May for the Chicago Marathon, although he did not follow a specific regimen.

“I ran every day as much as I could, did sit-ups and push-ups at night, and watched what I ate,” he said.

And even though his training runs reached 20 miles, Vranas said his training took a larger toll on him socially, not physically.

“My social life sucked,” he said. “I stopped drinking, and I usually ran between 3 and 5 in the morning when there is less traffic.”