Different motivations: Why runners are competing in the Chicago Marathon

There’s no way to run the grueling 26.2 miles of the Bank of America Chicago Marathon, which starts and finishes Sunday in Grant Park, without serious motivation.

Many among the 53,000 runners running for endorphins and personal-best times have a cause or a person that drives them. Others run to challenge themselves.

Here are a few of their stories.

Running for Ollie

About six years ago, Alissa Elberts of Downers Grove, a physical therapist at Northwestern Medicine Central DuPage Hospital, met little Ollie in a toddlers’ gymnastics class, the same one in which Elberts enrolled her own daughter, Addy.

Having other children of the same age together in school, Elberts became friends with the family of Ollie, now 9, who has Cornelia de Lange Syndrome. CdLS is a genetic disorder that may present physical, cognitive and medical challenges.

“He experiences some developmental delays,” Elberts said. “He’s a very bright, social, and caring young man.”

Inspired by Ollie and by the opportunity to raise $2,500 for the Cornelia de Lange Syndrome Foundation to gain entry into the marathon, Elberts will be among 30 members of “Team CdLS” running Sunday in honor of loved ones diagnosed with the condition.

Late to running, Elberts started after “becoming a mom,” she said.

“It’s my time to get out and run from Point A to Point B without the guilt of what I’m leaving behind,” she said.

She has one Chicago Marathon under her belt. In 2021, which she completed the course in a little over 5 hours.

That was “as good as I think I could” at the time, she said. This Sunday, time is secondary to Elberts’ relationship with Ollie, his family, and the greater CdLS community.

“I feel like it’s such a great cause to support,” Elberts said, “to know everything that goes into supporting and connecting these families along their medical and social journeys.”

A team effort

Preston Radtke, a 2012 graduate of Rolling Meadows High School while growing up in Arlington Heights, is among 139 adaptive and able-bodied Chicago Marathon participants representing the Great Lakes Adaptive Sports Association in Lake Forest.

For Radtke, the effective number is 2. Two guide runners will help him navigate the course from Sheridan Road to 35th Street and points in between, such as near Radtke’s Lakeview home, where his mother, Winnie, will be watching.

Preston Radtke has diminished light perception, present since birth. He can distinguish between light and dark and can identify certain colors if there is a dramatic contrast between them, he said.

Radtke, 31, has run for 15 years overall and seriously for the last six, though this will be his first Chicago Marathon. He’s competed in the Bank of America Shamrock Shuffle, several half-marathons, and last November ran the CNO Financial Group Indianapolis Monument Marathon.

He will run with guides Chris Meacham and Sarah Muth. He met both through the Chicago chapter of Achilles International, which helps people with disabilities in athletic and social situations.

One guide runs alongside Radtke, each holding one end of a lanyard or a foot-long strap, a “tether.” A second guide runs in front of Radtke or behind him, watching for obstacles.

“I think the most important part is the communication, especially in that loud atmosphere. There’s going to be people cheering and there’s going to be lots of people running,” he said of Sunday’s race.

Radtke’s guides give him tips on training and diet, and they have become friends.

“I’m always extremely thankful for the guides,” he said. “They will deny this, but it’s a very selfless thing that they do, and I’m very appreciative of them.”

Redemption

Grayslake native Kyle Tellez had a wild time in his 20s. Too wild for his own good.

A cross country runner at Grayslake Central High School, Class of 2009, he attended Northern Illinois University and pledged a fraternity.

Tellez lived impulsively, then left school after his freshman year. His habits followed him.

“I kind of just lived my life with no direction for pretty much my whole 20s,” he said. “A lot of alcohol issues, some drug issues, and just bouncing around from job to job.”

Tellez, 34, told his tale without shame. He turned a corner when his daughter, Eloise, was born in December 2021.

“I really didn’t want her to know the guy I used to be, and when I held her for the first time, I promised I wouldn’t let her down,” he said.

He’s been sober since, substituting running for the alcohol he used to drown anxiety. Tellez returned to school and now works at Aurora Pleasant Prairie Ambulatory Surgery Center, just over the Wisconsin border.

Running “with that second chance in my heart” — and losing 60 pounds along the way — Tellez went back where he started to win his age group at the 2023 Grayslake Central Turkey Trot, a 5-kilometer race.

In October 2024, he ran his first marathon, the Milwaukee Lakefront Marathon.

The usual mantra is “one day at a time.” Tellez takes it one mile at a time. Often, he runs with Eloise in a stroller.

“It’s a story of redemption. You get a second chance,” Tellez said.

“I just feel like you shouldn’t take your life for granted, and you can’t waste it,” he said. “I learned my lesson the first time, and I’m not going to blow it again.”