By Dee Longfellow
Maria Tiscareno receives her medal for having completed the 43rd annual Bank of America Chicago Marathon from her brother Ricardo, who is a Bank of America employee and race volunteer. Ricardo arranged to make sure he was able to present Maria with her first medal – a dream two years in the making. Ricardo is an Addison resident while Maria and her family live in Bensenville. Story and another photo inside.
When the 43rd annual Bank of America Chicago Marathon took over the city streets last October, Bensenville resident Maria Tiscareno was a first-time participant.
Maria, relationship manager lending specialist with Bank of America, volunteered at the marathon in 2019. Along with her brother Ricardo, who is an Addison resident, Tiscareno handed out medals to runners at the finish line. At that point, Maria couldn’t run a single mile, but she was so inspired by the experience that she decided to lace up her shoes and give it a try herself.
“Volunteering at the finish line and seeing people from so many countries, so many ages, and so many backgrounds was such a beautiful experience for me, I immediately thought to myself, ‘could I do this?’” said Maria. “With some encouragement from my brother, I decided, why not try? I’m always up for a challenge.”
Maria set out to run two miles the next day but quit after only a few blocks. From there, she reset her goal for one mile, then three, then four, then more. In early October, she completed a 20-mile consecutive run in the Forest Preserve near Bensenville, which she said was an emotional moment.
“Every milestone along the way is so moving and significant,” she said. “I just never thought I’d get there. I couldn’t imagine what it would be like to cross that finish line.”
In what would be a full circle moment, Maria’s brother Ricardo arranged to make sure he was able to present Maria with her first Bank of America Chicago Marathon medal – a dream two years in the making. It helped that Maria’s husband and two children were cheering her on with homemade signs at various spots along the race route.
Getting started
“When I was newer with the company three years ago, I had the experience of volunteering, which was really nice,” she said. “That’s when I decided to do it, [all the runners] were all sharing their story. I decided I wanted to be a part of it.”
She started in May, using a 16-week training program provided by the Marathon organizers.
“They provided a guide which I followed, but I started on my own and set my own limits,” Maria said. “I would sometimes have my two kids — son Sebastian and daughter Stephanie – we would run at Breton Park. On the weekends were the long runs, often at the 20-mile track at the Forest Preserve.
“I kept in mind that I was being watched by my children during my training. I wanted to prove that if you put your mind to something, you can do it, especially in school and in sports. I told them as long as you put your mind to it, you can do it.”
When asked about preparing for the race, Maria shared her routine leading up to the big day.
“Just before the race, I definitely carb-loaded,” she said. “You’re supposed to slow down your running in the last two weeks, so after my last run of 20 miles, I cut down to five miles, and then to four. Then I ate carbs, like pasta and bread. That was the fun part!”
The family stayed in downtown Chicago over that weekend and had dinner at a nice restaurant.
“My family was cheering me on the whole way,” Maria said. “I was able to share my location through my iPhone so they could track me. It really helped, getting their encouragement along the way.”
A ‘trip-up’ in her plans
There was a little bad news along the way for Maria.
“There was a piece of concrete in front of a church that I didn’t see and I fell on my knees and my hands,” she said. “I thought I wouldn’t be able to finish because I had fallen so hard because I was running so fast at the time that I fell. But I got up and felt fine.
“At first, the fall felt like a slap in the face, like I’d done all this training and now this? I had only run about five miles and I was not going to be impressed with just five miles!”
She decided to just go as far as she possibly could – which resulted in her finishing.
“The next day I went to the doctor and found out I’d broken my elbow!” Maria said. “I was still able to finish. I think the adrenaline kept me going. My arm felt swollen, it felt like it was asleep, tingly, like when your foot’s asleep.”
She didn’t let anyone know she had fallen until after the race.
“I saw my parents and my husband Reuben and my kids as they were cheering me on,” she said. “I didn’t tell them I was injured.
“After the race, they had trouble finding me. They were joking that they were exhausted from keeping up with me, trying to find me after the race!”
There is some self-care that runners need to take following the race, but Maria wasn’t aware of that, having never run a marathon before.
“I didn’t know you have to regulate your temperature,” she said. “First you’re hot, then you’re cold. Someone said all the people after the marathon looked like the ‘Walking Dead.’ People were hobbling around as if they’re wounded.”
Asked what surprised her about the experience, she said she certainly didn’t expect to break her elbow!
“I thought I was dying at about the 20-mile mark, but I knew I had to push on if I wanted to finish,” she said. “But it was a nice experience. The crowd and the posters, all the positivity was overwhelming, you could tell everyone was happy to be there — the crowd and the runners.
“I’d recommend everyone do it at least once.”
And she’s still running. She ran a 5K on Thanksgiving along with her kids.
“That 5K felt like a marathon to them!” she said.
Is she planning to do it again? You bet!
“I plan to run the marathon again, but I plan to do it right next time,” Maria said, “with no broken bones!”
Her brother Ricardo was indeed able to give her the medal and remains very proud of her. The two are still running together.
