| 03 September 2009
Alicia Gonzalez, 31, Executive Director of Chicago Run.
When did you start runnning?
When I was growing up, it was not safe to run outside in my neighborhood. But, we had PE class every day in school, so I was always active. In high school, there were only boys on our high school track team, so I did not feel very comfortable joining the team. I stayed extremely active through other sports and activities in high school and college, eventually teaching aerobics, spinning and being a personal trainer as my side job in college. All these years, I ran recreationally but never raced.
When I was 26, I decided that I wanted to run my first marathon, so I signed up for the Chicago Marathon. I have not stopped since. I have run seven marathons, including the Boston Marathon this past April. As for Chicago Run, this is my calling. This organization brings together all of my passions – education, youth, non-profit management and athletics. It has been a wonderful experience launching Chicago Run and watching the impact that it is making in the lives of children across the city.
Any funny or embarrassing stories?
The most embarrassing story thus far is that I was hit by a golf cart in June 2007 and broke my left ankle. However, I did not know that my ankle was broken, I just thought it was sore. So, I continued to run on it for two weeks (limping the whole way) averaging 60 miles a week at that point. I was stubborn and thought that the pain would eventually go away. One day after a 12 mile run, a doctor whom I was running with said that I should immediately get an x-ray because it was so swollen. Thus, two days later I got myself to a podiatrist and found out that I had a complete fibular fracture and could not run for the next six weeks.
How many miles a week do you average?
It depends on if I am training for a marathon. For Boston, I averaged 70 miles a week.
Have you ever wanted to give up?
The last few miles of the Boston Marathon were brutal, but I thought about how hard some of our kids work at Chicago Run and this got me through the last few hills.
Day or at night?
I run in the mornings by my house in Logan Square/Humboldt Park. It’s nice and quiet and much less congested than the lakefront path. However, for my long runs I do use the lakefront path, since there are adequate water stops along the route. In the winter, I run inside and outside – it depends on how brave I can be on that day. This past winter was tough, because I had to do all my long runs outside on some of the coldest days and at that point it becomes a mental game. You have to psyche yourself up to brave the snow, wind, and freezing temperatures of Chicago winters.
Have you ever run more than the length of a marathon?
No, I have yet to run more than 26.2 miles. It might be in the cards to do an ultra-marathon, but for now 26.2 miles is far enough.
What is Chicago Run?
Chicago Run is a non-profit organization founded in late 2007 to combat childhood obesity by facilitating running programs to youth in Chicago. Our mission is to promote the health and wellness of Chicago children through innovative, engaging and sustainable youth running programs. We currently serve 21 elementary schools throughout Chicago, serving a total of 4,000 kids. Our kids run for 15 minutes a day during the school day and the teachers log their kids’ miles on our interactive Web site. As the children log their miles, we deliver incentives for each milestone that they achieve along a marathon course. The Web site also allows the kids to see themselves virtually running their miles along four different marathon courses throughout Chicago, so they can learn about local geography, social studies and math. It’s a complete digital learning experience, while improving their health and fitness. We also launched a middle-school program, “Running Mates,” last winter that teaches kids about teamwork, perseverance and building bridges between neighborhoods while training for a local 5k or 8k race.
How do you take your café?
My coffee needs a little kick to it, so I always add a shot of espresso and a little skim milk.
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