First-time marathoner Allison Naval never thought she would be making history as the 1 millionth runner when she crossed the finish line Sunday at the Chicago Marathon.
Naval, of Evanston, signed up for the marathon earlier in the year — thinking she would finally get to cross something off of her bucket list.
“I ran cross country in college but stopped after suffering a few injuries,” Naval said. “Last year, I watched my husband run a marathon and was incredibly inspired. I just felt this pull to come back to running, and I’ve fallen back in love with it.”
Naval was also doing it in support of a cause: the Greater Chicago Food Depository.
“I thought it was a great opportunity to do two incredible things: cross something off my bucket list and help support alleviating food insecurity,” she said.
Naval clocked in at 4:23:13 — beating her personal goal and also ending up as the 1 millionth finisher since the first Chicago Marathon in 1977.
“What I wanted was to just finish, but being able to cross the finish line in a time faster than I anticipated was a great feeling,” she said. “My husband was going for a personal record, and I was seeing how well he was doing. That was truly my No. 1 motivation. I just kept thinking, ‘OMG, if he can do it, I can do it, too.’”
Naval said seeing her family and friends’ faces on the sidelines cheering along the way and knowing her husband would be waiting for her at the finish line was the power boost she needed.
Being named the 1 millionth runner never even crossed her mind.
“I kept seeing these flags along the way that said ‘one in a million,’ but the thought that it would be me never even occurred to me. I was just focused on the race,” she said. “After the race, I kept getting a call from someone, and when I finally called back, the Chicago Marathon team let me know it was me.”
Will she run another marathon? The answer is yes.
“I’ve caught the marathon bug for sure.”
