News Release
Homer CCSD 33C
Goodings Grove Luther J. Schilling William E. Young William J. Butler
Hadley Middle Homer Jr. High
Contact: Charla Brautigam, Communications/Public Relations Manager
cbrautigam@homerschools.org | 708-226-7628
For Immediate Release:
Oct. 12, 2017
A lesson in determination
Homer 33C teachers among those who cross finish line at Chicago Marathon
Months of training paid off for three Homer School District 33C teachers who participated in the Chicago Marathon this past weekend.
Diane Blaskey, Colleen Parnitzke and Kelly Klosak spent months training for the 26.2-mile marathon on Oct. 8. They were among an estimated 45,000 runners who participated in the 2017 Bank of America Chicago Marathon.
“I never thought a marathon would be possible,” said Blaskey, who was in a car accident nearly three years ago and had to undergo back surgery to repair a shattered vertebrae.
“With clearance from my doctor and support from my family and friends, I trained for six months to accomplish this feat,” she added. “It was a great experience! I would like to try to compete in a triathlon next summer.”
For Parnitzke, inspiration came from watching her husband run the Chicago Marathon — twice!
“After seeing him cross that finish line for the second time, something in me wanted to try,” she said. “We joined CARA (Chicago Area Runners Association) and met with a group of runners every Saturday morning for 18 weeks to complete our long runs.
“This has been the most amazing and fulfilling experience for my family and me,” she added. “I said throughout all of this that I would do this marathon and cross it off the list. After crossing that finish line, I am 100% sure that doing another marathon is a possibility!”
Blaskey finished the marathon in 5:26:30. Parnitzke crossed the finish line in 4:46:53 and Klosak finished in 4:27:58.
Blaskey teaches math at Homer Junior High School while Parnitzke teaches English at the junior high. Klosak is a reading/English Language Arts teacher at Hadley Middle School.
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