Ruth Bonacci Chair, Membership & Volunteers Chesterton

I am a special education teacher and use my running as a witness to my students about negotiating the struggles of life. My students struggle with the rigors of school. Since I was/am a good student, it is often difficult for me to understand how one cannot love learning and being in school. When I look at my running, though, I can identify with their discouragement. Running for me is very difficult. I work hard, set goals, and often do not meet them. After every race a little voice inside urges me to quit. I know it′s the same for my students. Their studies are so difficult that they would rather act up or stop trying just to be done with it. I had a student last year named Deontae and we had an understanding. He would encourage me when I felt I had a poor race and I would encourage him after he had a bad day. When I ran my personal best in the Chicago Marathon in October 2006 under my long sleeve Opportunity Enterprises running shirt was my short sleeve shirt. On the back of that shirt were the signatures and good wishes from all of the students in my severe emotional disabilities class. It was one of my best running moments!!!

My Top Five Running Moments:

1. Finishing my first half marathon: Calumet City 2003
2. Setting my marathon PR: Chicago 2006
3. Training for my first Chicago Marathon in the summer of 2004
4. Running the Chicago Marathon with my daughter Jessica in 2005
5. Earning the Jim Cox Award in 2006

Thank you to the people who have inspired and encouraged me in my running

1. Nicholas Bonacci: A veteran track and cross country coach at Lewis University and my Dad
2. Jessica Recchia: My daughter who helped me start running in 2003 after I watched her compete in cross country in middle school and high school
3. Sommer Watts: My motivator and trainer when I started running in 2003
4. Rudy Moyado: My first marathon training partner who was with me when I did my first 20 mile run and who was there when I had my first fall in a race
5. Patrice Lawson: My training partner for the first two Chicago Marathons for providing me with chatter and peppermints to keep me going those long miles and for being the inspiration for the Panerathon
6. Rick Torres: An awesome coach who has helped me run my PR in Chicago in 2006 and encourages me when I am down
7. Betty Funkhouser: A running buddy who helped me change my running stride that helped me run faster
8. Michele Hale: My OE marathon trainer for the 2006 Chicago Marathon who provided encouraging words every Sunday I was out at Wicker on a training run
9. S. Lee Alvarez: My running friend who is an inspiration because she was very brave and determined and ran the Chicago Marathon in 2006 after a tragic accident
10. Marylin Kaifesh: My running friend who is my running therapist because she always speaks about the joy of running and does not have a competitive bone in her body

Contact Information:

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Updated: 8/6/2007

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