By Jen WiecznerThe Daily Northwestern
CHICAGO – In the final 10 feet before the finish line of the LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon, Michael Martin made a friend.
He still doesn’t know the man’s name. The Music senior said that upon finishing the grueling run, he hugged, high-fived and congratulated a man he ran beside for that final stretch.
The feeling of running a full 26.2 miles – a mix of excitement, relief and utter fatigue – was enough to forge a bond between the two, if only for a moment.
“I never saw him again,” Martin said. “I couldn’t tell you what he looked like.”
The runners’ eyes were on the victory tent as they ran toward it Sunday on the home stretch of Columbus Drive, some holding hands, some with arms around each other, some pumping fists in the air.
It was as though you could see their adrenaline rushing: knees lifted higher and arms churned harder.
The crowd seemed to notice, cheering and surging from the bleachers and against the fence.
As they crossed the finish, the stream turned silver as runners donned space blankets.
“Congratulations runners, you have run Chicago,” an announcer said.
Cloaked in a space blanket that looked like little more than tinfoil, his face caked with salt from his sweat, Weinberg sophomore Jason Cohen tried to keep warm in the wind as he waited for his mother near Buckingham Fountain shortly after noon. He had just finished his first marathon in about three and a half hours and was riding a runner’s high.
He raved about the run that took him on a tour of Chicago – through China Town, Little Italy, Greek Town, Wrigleyville and more.
“You get to see the whole city – it’s just great,” he said.
He had been nervous before the race began; he had run out of time to stretch and joined the crowd so late that he didn’t see the starting line until 8:20 a.m., although the race started at 8.
In training, marathoners never run a full 26.2 miles. The last six on Sunday were as hard as they are rumored to be, he said.
“Your body just feels like it’s decomposing,” Cohen said.
But he said the crowd’s cheering and Gu, a gel he ate every 45 minutes, kept his energy up. He sprinted the last quarter- or half-mile stretch.
Martin credited his success to his thorough training, but he still experienced that home-stretch crash.
“I felt like I was running with a backpack and ankle weights,” Martin said. At the last mile, after running for four and a quarter hours, he tried to push himself anyway. “I got a cramp in my right quad, right calf, left Achilles tendon and shin splints, all at the same time.”
Though they started together, his girlfriend, Communication senior Morgan Weed, ran faster than he did, finishing in three hours and 49 minutes and sprinting the last 200 meters. Sore and exhausted, but happy, she described the end as surreal.
“We’ve been training for it for 18 weeks,” she said. “I just can’t believe that day has come.”
She and Martin are taking tomorrow off from running.
Reach Jen Wieczner at [email protected].
