Michelle Newman - Highland Park, IL

I was one of the lucky ones to make it to the finish and get my medal. My thoughts are still with those that are recovering from heat related medical conditions. Water and Gatorade were available at many of the stations but I did notice that they were not available in Lincoln Park (miles 7-10). Luckily my friends were prepared on the sidelines with some relief for me at mile 9.

I was at mile 19 when we first got word that the race was cancelled. But it was one person on the sidelines yelling at the bunch of us running by so we did not believe what we heard and kept running. Then we heard the same message at mile 23, “the race has been called!” No further instructions were given at that time so we all wondered aloud, “what does that even mean?” We couldn’t stop because there was no other way to get to Grant Park so we kept running.

It was at mile 24 when officials from a helicopter announced that we should stop running and walk because there was a shortage of emergency teams. So I walked to mile 25 where I saw the sign “1 Mile to Go” and I was able to run down Michigan, up the surprise incline and down Columbus to finish amongst the crowds of people screaming in support of what was a challenging finish. Tears flowed as I crossed the finish line. When I found my family they immediately asked, “Did you finish?” I proudly held up my medal and announced that I finished my third and last marathon of my life!

Best to you all,

Michelle Newman
Time 4:54:58

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