(708)301-1594 
Open 11 am-4 pm Tuesday through Saturday Closed Sunday and Monday webmistress                   |
Hello. I will be running the Quad City Marathon (26.2 miles) on Sept. 23rd and am dedicating my run to TLC Animal Shelter in Homer Glen. I am hoping that you will consider sponsoring me for this great cause.
Thank you very much.
Chris Ader
Download Pledge Form in PDF format
Download Pledge Form in Word format
Return Pledge Form with your check payable to TLC Animal Shelter to:
TLC Animal Shelter
13016 West 151st Street
Homer Glen IL 60491
Reprinted from The Homer Horizon August 15, 2007
Editor
Daisy & Joy, Ader's animal companions
A month from now, when Homer Glen resident Christine Ader is pounding the pavement to finish the Quad Cities Marathon, she'll be doing it not just for the satisfaction of completing a 26.2-mile run for the first time--but also to benefit the TLC Animal Shelter in Homer Glen.
Ader, a mechanical engineer at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory in Batavia, said she first became involved with the shelter when she adopted a dog that was meant for her mom, but with whom she fell in love herself.
So when Ader was making the decision to participate in her first marathon this year, she thought that a nice way to make the individual event more meaningful would be to get sponsors and run not for herself, but for the shelter.
"I think they do really great work at the shelter, and they're great people," she said.
Though Ader ran track and field in high school, and has completed 5K runs and the Run for the Zoo, a nine-mile race, she's never cracked this ultimate running achievement.
"I've always wanted to do a marathon, but I never was able to run over 12 miles," she said. "Now my body feels great, even though I'm 42, so I thought I might as well try to do it."
Ader shied away from the more well-known Chicago Marathon because she's not a fan of the big city and the crowds--45,000 runners, not to mention the spectators--that come with it. She also would have had to sign up by April for that one, she said.
"The Quad Cities isn't that far, so I decided that will work out well," Ader said.
The Quad Cities Marathon starts and ends in Moline, Ill., covering four cities, three bridges, two states and the Mississippi River.
The marathon is Sunday, Sept. 27, and right now, Ader is training on an 18-week regimen she found online, put together by a well-known marathon runner.
So far, she's run 19 miles, and in addition to a number of shorter runs, she has just three long ones left--another 19-mile run on August 19, a 20-mile run, then the marathon itself.
She wears a GPS watch when she's training, which tells her exactly not only how far she's run, but how fast she's running.
"It takes out all the guesswork, and it refreshes every second. I love it--it's a great tool," she said.
Ader said she's been running regularly for about two decades, but she hasn't run an actual race in years.
"If I can finish and feel reasonable afterwards, that's my goal. I figure if I can do it and not be hurting, that's good enough for me," she said. "So far I feel good."
Ader does her running outside, mostly on streets. On Sundays, which is when she tackles her long runs, she heads over to the Waterfall Glen Forest Preserve near Darien, which has a 9 ¾ mile trail, not to mention trees and deer.
She usually trains in the morning, which means she sometimes gets up and going as early as 4 a.m.
Ader was even running outside during the microburst storm that hit Homer Glen on July 27. She heard thunder, and figured since it wasn't raining, she'd be fine; she decided to finish her five-mile run.
Then it started hailing, so she decided to run down a street lined with trees for protection--but the trees started coming down.
By the time she got back on 139th Street, she ran by a delivery truck, whose driver asked if she wanted a ride anywhere. By that time she was soaked, and the rain had let up to a drizzle, so she kept going.
While she generally runs alone, she finds herself meeting up with the same people on Waterfall Glen on Sundays, so sometimes she'll join up with them and chat for a bit while they run alongside each other.
Anyone interested in making a pledge to sponsor Ader's run for the TLC Animal Shelter can e-mail shedantlers@yahoo.com. All donations to the shelter are tax-deductible.
O'Brien said as the date of the marathon approaches, more information about how to sponsor Ader will be posted on the TLC Web site, www.tlcanimalshelter.org.
*Running a marathon for the first, fifth or 10th time? Share your stories and training tips at www.homerhorizon.com!