A 56-year-old Evanston woman and a Weinberg sophomore both now have something in common to brag about — they finished at or near the top of their age divisions in Sunday’s LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon.
Evanston resident Nancy Rollins won the 55 to 59 age division with a time of 3 hours, 27 minutes, 24 seconds, and Boulder, Colo., native Nick Romeo ran the marathon’s 26.2 miles in 3:06:31 to finish fourth in the under-19 division, less than 10 minutes behind the division winner.
The race was Rollins’ 47th marathon, she said Monday. She began running the Chicago Marathon at age 32 and has missed just three years — two while pregnant with her children and another when the race was not held.
“I really truly love running,” she said. “I love just the discipline and the focus. The marathon is a particularly inspiring distance for me.”
But that doesn’t mean Sunday’s race was easy for Rollins. She said she experienced painful cramping in her calves around the 16th mile and had to slow her pace.
“I had to regroup and say, ‘OK, so this is happening and I don’t know why it’s happening but let’s just take it a mile at a time,” she said.
Rollin’s husband, Carle, wasn’t particularly astonished with her finish at the top of her age group.
“She’s won it so many times before that I’d be surprised if she hadn’t won it,” he said.
He ran the first few miles of the marathon, then switched to his bike to follow his wife along the race until losing track of her at mile 23, he said. As a member of the Evanston Running Club since 1979, he meets with club members about three times a week to run. Several club members also ran in the marathon Sunday.
Nancy Rollins competes in marathons several times each year and races other distances with the Niles West Oakton Running Team. Most recently before the Chicago race she ran in Grandma’s Marathon, held in Duluth, Minn. in June.
She also has run the Boston and New York marathons, although she never has raced outside the United States. Rollins said each race has a different personality.
“I always like to do Chicago because it’s my hometown,” she said. “But I like the variety.”
Rollins said she ran her fastest marathon in 3:02:20 at age 43 and said the race grows easier and more enjoyable with time.
“It’s a distance you mature into,” she said. “Even though I’m older, I’m experienced and I know how to tackle it.”
Sophomore Romeo, on the other hand, has many years to go before he matches Rollins’ experience and said he found the race taxing. He hit half-way at 1:29:55 and was on pace to finish the race in less than three hours until the 21-mile mark, when he experienced “hellish” cramps.
He later collapsed at the finish line and was wheeled off the course.
“I couldn’t stand up for like half an hour,” he said. “I feel really crappy today. I can barely walk up stairs.”
Still, he said the glory was worth the pain.
“I feel sort of heroic, I must admit,” he said.
Romeo raced competitively when he was younger, winning his age group in the Bolder Boulder, a Memorial Day 10K race, for six consecutive years between ages 9 and 15.
Romeo also said he draws inspiration from his 4-year-old sister, Asha, who is adopted from Ethiopia and serves as his “coach and mentor.”
The Daily’s Graham Webster contributed to this report.
