Chicagoans run to show solidarity with Boston Marathon victims
BY MITCH DUDEK Staff Reporter/mdudek@suntimes.com April 16, 2013 10:10PM
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Updated: April 17, 2013 8:20AM
Chicago runners wanted to show solidarity for those affected by the Boston Marathon bombings, but many didn’t know how.
They chose the simplest answer. They ran.
About 200 runners set out from the Foster Avenue beach house Tuesday evening for a three-mile run.
“I’m going to keep on running and I’m going to hold Boston to my heart,” said Daniel Rivas, 25, of the Northwest Side.
Rain and hail did not deter the group.
“It’s the least we can do, because this is something that’s affected the whole running community and we don’t want to live in fear of the sport we love,” said Amy Kempf, 25, of Lake View.
“We’re not quitting, we’re not going to do anything different that would show that we’re afraid. The right thing to do is to keep on doing what we’re doing and just know that our hearts and minds are with those in Boston,” said Wendy Jaehn, who ran in Monday’s Boston Marathon and is executive director of the Chicago Area Runners Association, which organized the lakefront run.
Jaehn had finished the marathon and was buying her children cannolis at a pastry shop far from the blast sites when the bombs detonated.
Andrea Gutierrez, 28, of Boystown, knew it could have been her with shrapnel wounds, or worse.
“My sister has been trying to qualify for Boston for the last few years, and we could have been there,” she said.
After Tuesday’s run, the group huddled together and cheered for stragglers as they completed the jog.
