Student Rachael Stack and staff member Romero Sanchez are in training for Chicago’s Marathon race Oct. 7, 2012.
For Stack, a first-year student, this will be her first Chicago marathon. She’s been training for months, and makes time in her schedule to run along Chicago’s lakefront listening to various music formats through her iPod.
“It forces me to keep a schedule and give some time for myself outside of law school work,” Stack explained.
A native of the Minneapolis-St. Paul area, Stack is looking forward to running through the many neighborhoods of Chicago along the marathon’s route.
“I’ve been running since seventh grade. That was my first cross-country experience,” she said. “I was playing basketball and running kept me in shape, but I found that I like running better.” Stack was on her college running team at the University of Minnesota-Duluth. She finds running now “is a bit lonely” after having been a member of a team for years, which is why she runs in races when she can. Stack was among the 4,000 runners in the 5K 19th Annual Race Judicata earlier this month. She was the first woman to cross the line.
“I didn’t plan on winning, but I started out fast and kept my stride,” she said. Her time was 18.39 for the 3.1 mile distance. She was excited to meet Cook County State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez, an avid runner, who took part in the race and chatted with Stack.
Sanchez, a member of the maintenance staff, will be running for the seventh time in the Chicago Marathon. For Sanchez, the 26 miles will be a fun run. Running is like a hobby for him, and he runs every day in a park near his home. He has done distances as long as 30 miles.
For the past 20 years or so, Sanchez has been participating in organized or competitive runs. The 57-year-old most recently competed in Chicago’s half-marathon with a time of 1:44:05 for the 13 miles.