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The tinley junction | July 12, 2018 | 45
back in the competitive running game
nickname in the 1970s when
he was a medic in the Navy,
spending most of his tour of
duty at Great Lakes Naval
Academy in Glenview. He is
a certified personal trainer for
Life Changing Fitness, LLC.
Since the heart attack, he has
made changes in his life.
“There are some lifestyle
changes you need to make,”
he said. “Keep the salt out of
your diet. As long as I keep
exercise and eat what I tell
my clients to eat, I’ll be OK.”
Even though he did a trial
run two days prior to the race,
there were some anxious moments
on the Fourth of July.
“I was worried all week,”
he said. “With the temperature
being 90 degrees and all
of that humidity, but I was
still determined I was going
to finish no matter what.”
Honoring the flag
As a veteran, he said he
carries the flag during the
race to honor his fellow
veterans. He said the flag
“weighs nothing” but can get
a little tricky to maneuver in
the wind. He also carries it
when he races in the Ridge
Run on Memorial Day in
Chicago Ridge. He also carried
it when he raced in the
Turkey Trot when it fell on a
Marine Corp birthday.
“One year at the Ridge
Run, a lieutenant commander
in the Navy asked to use
my flag,” Mahoney said. “A
guy was re-upping into the
Navy and they were doing
the ceremony right there.
His son held the flag as his
dad said his oath.
“I hope it does make
people remember what Memorial
Day and the Fourth
are all about besides a day
off work. The support I get
from runners during a race is
always overwhelming. They
get it. Vets will often pass
and say ‘thank you.’’’
Gilbert, Leonard back in Stars and Stripes winner’s circle
Mitch Gilbert was running with
a New Balance
Chicago team in
2017.
Maryclare
Leonard was on a
family vacation.
As a result,
both had their
winning streaks
at the Tinley Park
Stars and Strips
5K race stopped.
But both were
back on July 4
and both were in
fine form as they
returned to the
winner’s circle.
Lisle’s Gilbert,
who had won the
overall event six
straight seasons
before last year,
won it with a time
of 16 minutes,
27.6 seconds. Orland
Park’s Matt
Swiatkowski was
second with a
17:06.1.
HARD TO
‘MITCH’ THIS
ACCOMPLISHMENT
Naperville native
Mitch Gilbert,
who resides in
Lisle, has won 10
races in Tinley
Park since 2011.
Here are his
championships:
Stars and Stripes
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2018
Turkey Trot
2016
2017
Running O’ The
Green
2016
Leonard, a
Marist graduate
and as sophomore-to-be
at
the University of Notre Dame, won
three straight titles in the women’s
division from 2014-16, and ran the
course at McCarthy Park in 20 minutes,
.5 seconds to return to the winner’s
circle and placed 13th overall
out of 620 finishers. Orland Park’s
Meghan Kobza, 29, was the second
women’s finisher at 20:19.4.
Gilbert, a 26-year-old Naperville
native who attended North Central
College, has been pretty successful
in Tinley Park. Aside from his seven
Stars and Stripes wins, he won the
Turkey Trot twice and the Running
O’ The Green once. He was a triple
crown winner in 2016, claiming all
three races. He has failed to win a
Tinley Park race just twice.
Orland Park’s Maryclare Leonard won the women’s
division of the Tinley Park Stars and Stripes 5K for the
fourth time in five years.
“I have family that lives here,”
he said. “They wanted to know if
I would come back this year and I
said ‘absolutely.’ I like coming here.
Our family is pretty tight when it
comes to running. The family races
in Lisle and Naperville, Burbank
and here. It’s a fun little circuit. A lot
of times, I’ll get my butt kicked and
get what’s coming to me and other
times I’ll get lucky like I did today
and hang on in the heat.”
Leonard, 19, was back in front of
the women’s pack this year in the
only competitive summer event she
plans on running before the cross
country season starts at Notre Dame.
“We run down my grandfather’s
[John Leonard] block so I always
like to do this one,” Leonard said.
“And he can just walk down his
driveway and see me run.”
Even though she had plenty of
success at the Tinley race before
taking last year off, she wasn’t taking
this year’s race for granted.
“I just wanted to see how I would
do,” she said, “I didn’t know if I
Lisle’s Mitch Gilbert won his seventh Stars and Stripes
5K Run in eight years on July 4 at McCarthy Park.
PHOTOS BY JEFF VORVA/22ZND CENTURY MEDIA.
would win or not but I’m happy
with the result considering I didn’t
do too many workouts.
“I am looking at this as the start to
my new [college] season.”
Last year, she did not get into a
cross country race for the Fighting
Irish but picked up some valuable
work while training with the squad.
“I really enjoyed it, the team
was great,” she said. “I’ve gotten a
lot stronger than I was the last two
years of high school. It’s been good.
I’m really happy.”