Community Corner

Area Woman Running Chicago Marathon for Charity

Huntley mom running marathon for first time to help the poor in Africa.

Ashley Boydstun hates running.

But she hates poverty even more, the Huntley mom said.

And so she’ll be at the Bank of America Chicago Marathon starting line Sunday.

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Boydstun is running the marathon to raise money for Team World Vision, which is working to provide clean water in drought stricken Africa.

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Boydstun was at Willow Creek Community Church listening to a presentation by Team World Vision. The church long has been a supporter of the organization, and she’d heard the same presentation last year.

“This year, I was sitting there and it really hit home,” she said.

Running a marathon was not on her bucket list, she said.

“I knew it was something I was called to do,” Boydstun said.

“Some people say it’s a whisper. Some say it’s a kick in the rear. To me, it was a wish in my heart. I knew it was what I had to do.”

“My husband went ‘Really?’ because I hate running,” Boydstun said. “I did everything but running. My sister is the long-distance runner in the family but me, no.”

The Training

The Chicago Marathon starts at 7 a.m. Sunday, Oct. 9. Organizers expect more than 45,000 runners to compete along the 26.2-mile course. It begins and ends in Grant Park.

There are more than 160 charity teams running the marathon, according to its website.

Even before the official eight-week training started, Boydstun needed to start moving, she said. She got on a treadmill on March 1, first walking then picking up the pace until she reached the point that she could run, she said.

In April, she started training with other people from the church who also would be running in the Chicago Marathon. The group, called Willow McHenry Runners, got together every Saturday on the Fox River Bike Trail in Algonquin to walk and run. The group is up to running 13 miles on training day, she said.

“Every week, it got longer and longer,” Boydstun said. “I have not missed Saturday morning training because it is such a supportive group.

Her team, with members from Huntley, Lake in the Hills, Algonquin and Crystal Lake, has raised $32,000 in pledges so far. The South Barrington campus has another team raising money.

“There are people relying on me to make this happen. I am relying on myself too,” Boydstun said.

Helping the Poor

The work Team World Vision is doing is familiar to Boydstun. She has done her own missionary work.

Boydstun moved to Huntley from California six years ago. There, she had been involved in a mission to Haiti and the Dominican Republic.

“I saw children walking miles, one way, to get water that wasn’t clean,” she said. “I held kids who were probably not going to be there in three weeks.”

The conditions she found in Haiti and the Dominican Republic are similar to those in the Horn of Africa, where there is a horrific drought occurring, she said.

Boydstun is raising money that will help Team World Vision build a pipeline in Kenya to provide clean water for 80,000 people, she said. The organization has been a frontrunner for aid and compassion in very poor countries and countries that have had natural disasters, like Japan.

Clean water is a basic necessity and unlike the United States, it is not guaranteed in other parts of the world, she said.

Anyone who wants to donate can check Willow McHenry Runner's website.  Boydstun also has a personal a link on the site that lets people donate. Or, you can mail in a donation.

Encouragement

“I’m 47 years old, I’ve never run,” said Boydstun, who lost 25 pounds during training. “I’ve never been a runner. If you looked at me, you would never think I’m running a marathon. People have a perception in their head that they can’t do something, but with enough gumption and support, they can do anything they want for a cause dear to them.

“It’s a team effort,” she said, adding she has gotten a lot of support from family and friends. Willow Community Church Huntley parishioners, too, have been asking how to donate and have been praying for her.

“I think those are all things that make it worthwhile,” she said. “I know I can do this.”

Are you running the Chicago Marathon this weekend?


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