Fox Valley Marathon Attracts More Than 1,000 Runners

Michael Trendell of Geneva had his 15-year-old son Joey in mind when he decided to run in the first-ever Fox Valley Marathon Sunday morning.

"Joey runs cross country and I push him, now I figure he can push me," Michael Trendell said as he stepped up to run the 26-mile course that started along First Street in downtown St. Charles and wound through city streets and bike paths to Aurora and back.

"I ran a half-marathon in May and I finished in two hours. My goal for today is to finish in five hours," Trendell said. "My wife is coming after work and I said she had enough time to go home and take a nap and then come back."

Joey Trendell was among the hundreds of spectators cheering on more than 1,000 runners who participated in the Fox Valley Marathon, the Half-Marathon and Fall Final 20-Mile Run.

The race attracted runners from throughout the Geneva area, several states and countries including Japan. A blind runner competed, as did a man who had been born in a car on Route 64, just a few blocks from the finish line at the west end of the Illinois Street bridge.

St. Charles resident Tareyece Scoggin-Aranda, who was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis 14 years ago, opted to run the 20-miler.

"I did a half-marathon in June," Scoggin-Aranda said. "I'd like to do it in five hours. For me, five hours would be solid."

Many downstate Illinois residents came out, such as John Kleinsteiber of Paxton, IL, and his 20-year-old daughter, Rachel.

"I ran my first marathon in May, and we wanted to run one together," John Kleinsteiber said. "I'd been on the bike trail here five or six times, so I knew it would be a nice, shady, level course."

The lack of hills on the course was important to the Kleinsteibers because John's "knee blew up" during a race in May.

The Fox Valley Marathon is the first for Rachel Kleinsteiber, a student at Elmhurst College in Elmhurst, IL, though she has run half-marathons. She said the timing of the marathon made it possible for her to train and attend school.

John Kleinsteiber joked that he'd like to finish the race during "the day time," Rachel Kleinsteiber said the "big thing is to finish and not to die … Then it's back to school Monday and I have five classes. I hope I can move."

John Kleinsteiber was impressed with the organization of the Fox Valley Marathon, especially what he called "family friendly" information at the marathon Web site assisted spectators in trying to view their loved ones while they are on the course.

"Things are remarkably together, considering that it's their first time," John Kleinsteiber said.

Race co-organizer Dave Sheble said race time weather, with partly cloudy skies and a temperature of 56 degrees, were "absolutely ideal."

Optimal conditions helped propel star runner Tera Moody to a second-place finish overall in the 20-miler. Moody, a former St. Charles High School standout who placed fifth at the 2008 Olympic Trials in Boston, represented the U.S. at the 2009 World Championships in Berlin.

Moody said she appreciated the groups of spectators along her hometown route cheering her on as she ran a time of 1:59:47.

"There were a lot of people yelling my name as we ran by," she said. "That gave me a warm feeling … Our first mile was real slow. We ran it faster than I anticipated, but I never felt like I was going to the well."

The overall winner of the Fox Valley Marathon was Michael Iacofano of Medina, OH; the overall winner of the half-marathon was Brian Gurdowski of Buffalo Grove, and the overall winner of the 20-mile race was Steve Breese of Schaumburg.