ND students race through Windy City
A number of Notre Dame students raced through the streets of the Windy City alongside over 45,000 participants in the Chicago Marathon on Sunday.
"I wrote letters and started a Web site, so I received a lot of donations from my friends and family," she said. The winning time was 2:05:41, completed by Kenyan Sammy Wanjiru. While Notre Dame students did not exactly challenge Wanjiru's course record run, several students still attempted to complete the 26.2 mile race.
Runners took off at 7:30 a.m. to cover the course that winds through twenty-nine different neighborhoods and passes the historic sites of Chicago.
The race, which is sponsored by the Bank of America, encourages runners to raise money for different charities during the months leading up to Sunday's marathon.
The day began with temperatures around thirty degrees. Sophomore Christina Carson described the weather as chilly but perfect for running.
The Chicago Marathon was Carson's first marathon, and she trained hard to accomplish her goal of finishing the race in under four hours, she said.
"I've heard that Chicago is a good first marathon because the course is nice and flat," she said. "I just had a lot of fun."
Junior Kelly Paulius also represented Notre Dame. She began her training in May when friends who were marathon veterans inspired her to participate.
"This was my first race, and there were so many fans and so many runners that it was really motivational," she said.
Hundreds of thousands of fans lined the course in order to cheer on family and friends, adding to the excitement.
Paulius ran with a source of motivation greater than the crowds, however. She completed a service project at the Boys and Girls Club over the summer and wanted to continue her connections with the group through fundraising.
"I collected a little over $1,000," Paulius said. "Donations from family and friends really helped me on this project."
Sophomore Cristin Shaughnessy trained with her sister and her father and began in June, increasing her daily running mileage.
Shaughnessy also dedicated her performance to a charitable cause. Leading up to the race, she raised over $3,000 dollars for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital for cancer studies.
