St. Charles’ Fox Valley Marathon: Perfect Day to Run

Sunny, near-cloudless skies greet nearly 3,000 who turned out to run the marathon, 20-mile course and half-marathon events.

It was still dark when they began to arrive. Car after car slipped into downtown St. Charles before dawn on Sunday, drivers going from lot to lot, street to street, looking for places to park. They were not coming in for a church service, although for some, perhaps, the morning would be the culmination of a spiritual journey of sorts, steeling their bodies and minds for the challenge of a 13.1-, 20- or 26.2-mile run down the Fox Valley and up again. For some, like Karen Kowalik of Schaumburg, the Advocate Dreyer Fox Valley Marathon represented a personal milestone. The half-marathon she ran Sunday was the 50th run she’s completed since she took up the sport 17 years or so ago. She was 51 then; today she’s 68. She finished with a time of 51…

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