Two suburban marathoners running 26 for Special Olympics
Among the thousands of runners at Sunday's Chicago Marathon will be about 75 from more than 30 states raising money for Special Olympics Chicago.
And among that group are two suburban women — Bartlett resident Maureen Lue and Carpentersville native Becky Gould — for whom the cause is very dear to their hearts.
Lue is the Special Olympics coordinator, a Special Olympics coach and a school nurse for Elgin Area Unit District 46.
Gould is a Chicago schoolteacher whose 21-year-old brother, David, is a Special Olympics track athlete at Jacobs High School in Algonquin.
Lue has been involved with Special Olympics for quite a while, she said, coaching basketball, track and bowling teams for the U-46 BlueStars.
She said the opportunity to work with the Special Olympics athletes after school is always something to look forward to — guaranteeing that even the bad days at work will be redeemed.
“They're just about the sweetest kids you could meet,” Lue said. “They have such great sportsmanship. They enjoy everything!”
She's eagerly anticipating Oct. 30, when the sports she coaches resume. Her year-round role as the district's Special Olympics coordinator provides her with nothing but paperwork during the first two months of the school year.
Though she had more than one choice of which charity to be a part of in the Chicago Marathon, Lue jumped at the chance to help support Special Olympics Chicago.
U-46's Special Olympics programs are run entirely by volunteers and receive no taxpayer funding through the district.
“I may as well raise money for the people I coach,” she said.
The fundraising goal for each participating marathoner is $1,000, which Lue was just able to exceed earlier this week.
Though having run 11 marathons in different cities over the past decade, this one has the added emotional significance of being her last.
Having broken her hip in 2013, she's been advised that half-marathons are a better option for the remainder of her running career.
But she finds it sweet that she'll get to say goodbye to marathons in her own city — raising money for a cause she loves.
The knowledge of what Special Olympics has meant for her own brother was the inspiration for Gould's joining the fundraising group for this Chicago Marathon, just as she did in 2012.
Her brother David is autistic and can't talk, communicating only by sign language until he was able to start speaking through an iPad app a few years ago.
But as a spectator since middle school and an athlete since he started high school, David has had his horizons broadened by Special Olympics, Gould said.
“He doesn't have a social life like most adults, or even most kids his age,” she said. “But there's a whole different way he carries himself now. The whole world has just opened up to him.”
David started off playing basketball and still enjoys it, but he never had the coordination to really excel, Gould said.
But when Jacobs High School added a Special Olympics track team as well, he found his true sport in running.
A challenge awaits this February when David will turn 22 and no longer be able to participate through Jacobs' program.
Though that's something he doesn't fully understand yet, he should be able to continue with Special Olympics through the Northern Illinois Special Recreation Association.
And even bigger challenges will come in trying to get him into a staffed residential home from which he can work or volunteer in the community.
While that would optimally occur next year as well, in Illinois a more realistic expectation is a five- to 10-year wait for him to get funding.
“As much as I adore Special Olympics, I know that's not the answer to all our problems,” Gould said.
Though this is only her second marathon, she's looking forward to it with even more excitement than the first — even after now knowing how difficult they are.
The body is really only able to endure about 20 miles of running, Gould said. The rest is pure willpower.
“The last six miles are as hard as the first 20,” she said. “After 20 miles, you're running on fumes.”