Chicago Marathon
Every year, thousands of people come from around the world to run the Chicago Marathon. Completing the 26.2-mile course is a feat that anyone should be proud of. Julie and I have lived in Chicago over 6 years and the topic of applying to enter the Chicago Marathon has come up many times before. Both of us enjoy running. We do shorter races throughout the city and completing a marathon is on both of our bucket lists.
We entered the lottery for the 2019 race, but unfortunately neither of us got selected. For those who don’t know, to participate in the Bank of America Chicago Marathon, your registration needs to get selected out of a lottery system because they have so many applicants. So, when the time came to sign up for the 2020 lottery, we entered again. A couple months later, I received the email confirming I had been selected to run, but unfortunately Julie had not.
Prior to entering the 2020 lottery, we decided that if we didn’t get selected this year, we would look into running for a charity. Many different charities partner with the Chicago Marathon, allowing runners to raise money for a charity of their choice in exchange for a race entry. After not getting selected, Julie looked into doing just that.
With me having Bipolar, and suicide being associated with it, Julie made the decision to run for the Illinois chapter of the American Foundation of Suicide Prevention on Team Hope. Her fundraising goal is $2,000. Wanting to run for the charity as well, I signed up to raise an extra $500. It is our hope we will be able to meet and even exceed our fundraising goal of $2,500.
In five months, the both of us hope to do something we have never accomplished. It will be one of the biggest challenges, physically and mentally, we have ever taken on. However, we remind ourselves that we have faced adversity before. Running 26.2 miles is just another challenge to add to our list. With training already underway, even though it has been slightly adjusted because of the COVID-19 restrictions, we are excited for our next adventure. Our cause is bigger than us and we are grateful and humbled to have the opportunity to represent those affected by suicide.
