Chicago Spring Half Marathon sees thousands of runners mark personal bests, including 18-year-old cancer survivor
Thousands of people poured into downtown Sunday near Butler Field for the Life Time Chicago Spring Half Marathon. The event, now in its 16th year, is an opportunity for Chicagoans to celebrate spring in the city — and for runners far and wide to test their abilities and mark new personal achievements.
The runners represented 48 states and 33 countries, with many waking up bright and early to participate in either the half marathon or the 10K. Friends and family showed up as well to cheer on their loved ones on the cool, overcast morning, some with signs that read 'One step at a time you've got this,' 'Run like Joe Jonas is at the finish line' and 'ChatGPT can't help you with this one.'
The course started on Columbus Drive, south of Monroe Street and followed the Lakefront Trail, providing runners with a scenic waterfront view of the iconic Chicago skyline.
Joosim Song, 35, said he enjoyed the view, but was absorbed by the task at hand.
'I can't really focus on it because I'm running so hard,' the Arlington Heights resident said. But in the end, it all paid off — Song said he got a new personal record in the half marathon, finishing at 1 hour and 19 minutes.
Samantha Hanson, 28, also beat her record at the half marathon, coming in at 1 hour and 18 minutes. The Minneapolis resident is the women's champion for the half marathon, but when it was all over, there was just one thought on her mind.
'I'm just really glad to be done,' she said.
For some runners, the race was an opportunity not just to beat personal records but also a chance to mark the challenges they overcame.
Jared Appel does not consider himself a runner. The 18-year-old from Plymouth, Minnesota had not even ran a 5K before, let alone a 10K race. But after going through six months of chemotherapy for Hodgkin lymphoma, which forced him to put his life on hold, Appel wanted to do something to get his life back on track. Going to the gym was one of the few things he could do to get out of the house during his treatment, and just as his treatment wrapped up, he saw an advertisement for the half marathon at his gym.
'So far, I've been able to work my way up from being able to barely run a mile,' Appel said. 'I've done the whole 10K twice, once on a treadmill, once outside.'
He was excited to prove to himself and his friends that he could run the entire course. He ended up doing just that, only taking a few 30-second walk breaks throughout.
'The fact that I was able to run that distance alone was something I never thought I'd be able to do,' Appel said. 'I never thought I would run for more than 10 minutes without panting so hard.'
But by the time he finished the race, Appel said he was a little disappointed. He was seconds away from finishing the 10K in under an hour, but ultimately finished at 1 hour and 16 seconds.
Sunday's race was also a challenge for Becky Allen of Wonder Lake, who said she had never run a half marathon before. She was a little nervousand considered dropping out, but ultimately stuck with it.
The half marathon was another way for the 44-year-old to mark how far she has come from four years ago when she weighed 300 pounds. She has since lost that weight through a combination of weight loss surgery and exercise.
'In my past, had enjoyed running but just never really stuck with it,' said Allen, who ran cross country for a short time in high school. 'But after I lost the weight and got much more active, I decided that I enjoyed running.'
Allen said her sister and brother-in-law run a lot of 5Ks, and after Allen got back into running, she started joining their runs.
'I would go with my sister, and we would walk them before I lost the weight,' she said. 'And then as I got more active, and I was working out every day, and I lost the weight, all of a sudden, I was keeping up with my brother-in-law. I always had this goal: 'Someday I'm going to beat him.''
And finally, Allen did. Now her sister does not want to run 5Ks with her anymore because she runs them too fast, Allen said.
'A half-marathon is a really big jump for me. I probably should have gone to a 10K first,' Allen said. Regardless, she was still excited to put her best effort into the race, and ended up finishing in a little over three hours.
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UPI
14-06-2025
- UPI
Pope Leo XIV delivers Chicago message to packed field
1 of 3 | More than 30,000 are gathering at Rate Field on the South Side of Chicago Saturday to see Pope Leo XIV deliver a video message to a crowd in his hometown. Photo by Tannen Maury/UPI | License Photo June 14 (UPI) -- More than 30,000 are gathering in Chicago Saturday to see Pope Leo XIV deliver a video message to a crowd in his hometown. The Pope, who was born and raised in Chicago as Robert Francis Prevost, will appear in a 7.5-minute recorded video at Rate Field. The baseball park on the South Side of Chicago is home to the MLB White Sox, the Pope's favorite team. Rate Field has a listed capacity of 40,615. Pope Leo XIV has previously been photographed wearing a White Sox hat, the team he grew up cheering for in a working-class neighborhood. Leo is the first person from the United States elected to serve as Pope. Long before he was Pope, Prevost witnessed his White Sox win the 2005 World Series, capturing baseball's title for the first time in 88 years after winning four straight games over the Houston Astros. In addition to the Pope's address, Saturday's event features a serenade from a Chicago Catholic school boys' choir competing on the reality TV program America's Got Talent. Chicago Bulls play-by-play voice Chuck Swirsky is serving as Master of Ceremonies. The taped appearance comes just over a month after the 69-year-old was elected to the Papacy, to the delight of many Chicagoans and its large Catholic population. The Archdiocese of Chicago estimates more than 2 million Catholics live in the region. Saturday's festivities come a week after the Pope asked God to "open borders, break down walls and dispel hatred," during weekly mass in St. Peter's Square in Vatican City. On Friday, the Pope confirmed the date on which Italian teenager Carlo Acutis will be canonized. Acutis, who died at the age of 15 from leukemia in 2006, will become the first saint from the millennial generation on Sept. 7.
USA Today
13-06-2025
- USA Today
Whole new ballgame: Pope Leo to deliver message at White Sox park in Chicago
Whole new ballgame: Pope Leo to deliver message at White Sox park in Chicago Show Caption Hide Caption 'One of our own': Chicago celebrates election of Pope Leo XIV Chicago residents and leaders with the Archdiocese of Chicago are celebrating the election of a native to the papacy. CHICAGO – Some say Chicago's south side baseball team needs a miracle. And on Saturday, they're getting it when Pope Leo XIV comes home. Well, virtually comes home, anyway. Leo, the recently announced new head of the Catholic Church and a Chicago native, will be appearing in his hometown Saturday on a video screen. And at his favorite team's ballpark: Rate Field, home of the White Sox. The noted fan was seen rocking the team's cap in St. Peter's Square this week in an apparent nod to the upcoming celebration. Leo's virtual appearance at the park comes after the White Sox had the worst year in modern baseball history. Chicagoans hope his appearance will usher in a new era, perhaps with some help from high places. 'If anybody could make it happen, this is the guy,' said David Perez, weighing in from Go Tavern, a pub in the city's Logan Square neighborhood. "When I moved here, they had just won and were World Series contenders." The Sox last won the World Series in 2005. The city has been praying for a win since then. Perez is crossing his fingers for Leo to deliver Angels in the Outfield-style help, a reference to the 1994 film where the team wins with a little help from divine intervention. As Robert Francis Prevost, Leo was actually at the 2005 World Series when they swept the Houston Astros to win the pennant for the first time in 88 years. The baseball club commemorated the moment with a mural near Section 140 where Leo stood then, watching Game 1. The Sox went on to sweep the series. The celebration at Sox park on the South Side will honor the pope's roots in the area. Born on the South Side in 1955, Leo grew up attending church in Chicago. In addition to the Leo's message played on the park's big screen, the event will include words from people who knew Leo. It'll also feature a mass celebrated by Chicago-area Cardinal Blase Cupich. Chicago Bulls announcer Chuck Swirsky will emcee the event, organizers said. Gates open at 12:30 p.m. and the program begins at 2:30 p.m., according to the Archdiocese of Chicago. Mass begins at 4 p.m. The program also includes a clip highlighting Leo's Chicago roots and friends of his are expected to speak, the archdiocese said. Leo's message is expected to be addressed to young people around the world. Organizers hope that as much as the event is a celebration of the Chicagoland pope and his devotion to the White Sox, it will also be a chance to win over fans of the church. 'We know that we're in a moment in American culture where people are spiritually seeking and looking for meaning and purpose and oftentimes we think of the pope as sort of not quite human, as some kind of mythical figure and he's somewhat irrelevant because he's not like us,' said Brian Romer Niemiec, an organizer of the event with the archdiocese. 'If this moment can make the pope seem like he is like us, he is one of us, I think that helps a lot of people who are trying to figure out 'Is there more to life than this?' 'What is my purpose?' 'Where do I belong?'' Tickets for the event are available through Ticketmaster for $5. Resale tickets were selling for as much as $1,200 at one point, according to reporting by the Chicago Sun-Times. Tens of thousands are expected to attend the event at the stadium seating 40,000 people. Many in the city are just excited that a Chicago native is showcasing America in a new light on the world stage instead of President Donald Trump. 'Right now the biggest figure in America is Trump and he's the polar opposite,' said Daniel Fletcher. 'It's a strong counterpoint.' The 35-year-old with a Sox cap said he hopes attendees of the event Saturday will hear a 'more compassionate approach' as well as potentially his feeling about the abysmal season the team had last year. 'It's crazy these shared experiences we have and then to see him become the mouthpiece of God,' said Fletcher. Pope Leo's celebration will be livestreamed on the The Archdiocese of Chicago's website. It can also be viewed on YouTube. Attendees at the park can expect to find 'prayer booths' and be able to take selfies with life-sized cardboard cutouts of the pope, according to the archdiocese. White Sox club leaders hope Leo will one day appear at the stadium in the flesh.'He has an open invite to throw out a first pitch,' White Sox executive Brooks Boyer said, per 'Heck, maybe we'll let him get an at-bat.' Contributing: Fernando Cervantes Jr.
Chicago Tribune
13-06-2025
- Chicago Tribune
Ellen Skerrett: The pope's mother came of age during a complex Catholic-centered Chicago
The thousands who will gather on Saturday for a Mass and celebration in honor of Pope Leo XIV at Rate Field, home of the White Sox, may regard baseball parks as sacred spaces. For good reason — they join churches and schools as places that have shaped the lives of ordinary Chicagoans, including the pope's mother. Charles Comiskey, founder and owner of the Chicago White Sox, understood all about the power of sacred space to inspire. As a child growing up in the Jesuit parish established by the Rev. Arnold Damen, S.J., he sat with his family in pew No. 18 of Church of the Holy Family. Its ornate Gothic interior, completed according to the plans of architect John Mills Van Osdel, was built with the nickels and dimes of Irish families who were creating a place for themselves in Chicago. At 11 years of age, Comiskey was one of the first students to enroll in St. Ignatius College, now known as St. Ignatius College Prep, in September 1870. His classical education began in the Preparatory Department, and, according to the school ledger, he stayed 'about two years off & on.' Comiskey had 'baseball fever' and was a familiar figure on the 'prairies' around Maxwell Street. But his father regarded the American game as 'a sport for town boys and loafers' and sent him to school in Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin, and then St. Mary's in Kansas. His passion for baseball only intensified. Pope Leo XIV's mother, Mildred Agnes Martinez, was born a year after Comiskey's 'baseball cathedral' was dedicated on July 1, 1910, at 35th Street and Shields Avenue. For her, education — not baseball — was the game, and the Sisters of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, or BVM, were her team. Their Chicago roots, like Comiskey's, go back all the way to Damen and Church of the Holy Family. In 1867, Agatha Hurley, BVM, answered Damen's invitation to establish St. Aloysius Academy on Maxwell Street, a decision that had far-reaching consequences for the city of Chicago. The need was great. According to Damen, 'we have now 1,000 boys in our (elementary) school and we should have as many girls.' One of Comiskey's contemporaries, Mary Kane, played a crucial role in the education of Pope Leo XIV's mother. Born in Carrigaholt, Ireland, just after the famine, she came to the Jesuit parish as a 10-year-old with her illiterate immigrant mother and four brothers. Kane was among the crowd who welcomed the BVMs to Chicago in August 1867, and she had the honor of carrying the sisters' altar stone to their new chapel. In 1870, Kane joined the Sisters of Charity, and as Sister Mary Isabella, she quickly rose through the ranks. Elected mother general of her order in 1919, she directed the expansion of the BVM network of grammar and high schools in Chicago and the Midwest. Irish immigrant 'sister-builder' Kane gave Frank Lloyd Wright's draftsman, Barry Byrne, his first important commission: The Immaculata High School. Martinez's alma mater at 640 W. Irving Park Road, was a Prairie School structure of great beauty. In 1923, the Chicago Tribune described it as the 'last word in high schools.' These Catholic sisters challenged conventions. Whereas bishops ordinarily name parishes, 361 BVMs from 20 schools voted to call their new institution 'The Immaculata' after the mother of Jesus. In the 1920s, the BVM sisters were putting their imprint on the urban landscape with a building that matched their progressive ideas of education. At a time when social reformers were advocating domestic training for women, The Immaculata offered a four-year classical curriculum that prepared young women for college and careers as teachers in Chicago's public schools. And their commercial department ensured skills that translated into jobs in the 'front offices' of Chicago businesses and utilities. The sisters, themselves the daughters and granddaughters of immigrants, were investing in the future of their students from working-class and middle-class families. Every day from 1924 until her graduation in 1929, the pope's mother walked through The Immaculata's entrance dominated by Alfonso Iannelli's carved Madonna. The BVMs' commitment to art, music and drama was reflected in the curriculum, and as an Immaculata student, Martinez had many opportunities to find her voice. She was likely among the 60,000 students who participated in the Mass of the Angels at Soldier Field during the Eucharistic Congress of 1926. According to one account, Immaculata students drew attention for 'the cardinal red hats' that they wore as part of their uniform. The quintessential query 'Where did I come from?' takes on new meaning the more we understand the complex Catholic world in which the pope's mother came of age. This 'housewife' from Dolton was baptized at Holy Name Cathedral in 1912 and married there in 1949 to Louis Prevost. Growing up in that parish, Martinez experienced devotions and ritual on a grand scale, with elaborate ceremonies conducted by bishops, archbishops and cardinals. All true, but what about the influence of the 'good sisters'? After all, her aunt, Louise Martinez, was a Sister of Mercy and her aunt, Hilda Martinez, joined the BVM community. Perhaps the question we need to be asking is: What lessons did Mildred Prevost carry from her Immaculata education that shaped her life as a librarian, as well as a wife and mother of three boys? Like so many of us, her son Robert, now Pope Leo XIV, is the beneficiary of this rich legacy of women's work. Ellen Skerrett, a Chicago historian, is writing the history of St. Ignatius College Prep.
