Organizers stopped the October 7 race because the nearly 90-degree temperatures and high humidity were dropping runners, and there were not enough emergency vehicles to meet the need. More than 300 people were taken to area hospitals.
Pement, the wife of North Park Theological Seminary student Eric Pement, used to run several miles a day 20 years ago, but had stopped when life got too hectic. She now runs 16-minute miles at her best, a dramatic improvement from when she began training in February. Then, she took more than 30 minutes to complete the same distance.
Pement, had covered at least 13 miles of the course when organizers shut down the race and rerouted the runners. “It was a disappointment,” she says. “The police would not let us (keep going) and diverted us back toward Grant Park where we were to cross the finish line sooner than we normally would have.”
When she did get near the finish line, one of the volunteers tried to remove the device runners wear on their shoes to track their progress. Pement refused to give it to her and found another volunteer who directed her to the end of the course.
“I watched other runners running or walking their way in,” Pement says. “When I saw the time, I considered waiting another hour so that it would be closer to what I would have accomplished. But it was too hot for that, so I accepted the finishing time – 5:12:23. She had covered 18 miles.
The next day, she had her medal engraved with the words from Psalm 119:165 – Great peace have those that love your law and nothing causes them to stumble. Pement says, “I remembered that from my pastor who encouraged me when I fell and was injured during one of the 20-mile training runs back in September.”
Pement says she plans on running again next year. “I had fun, and I have gotten rid of so many clothes and am still losing inches. It is nice to get rid of clothes because they are too big!”
She is not the only person to benefit from her work. She raised money for World Vision’s work to support orphans in Africa whose parents died of AIDS. People still can give to the organization via her website established for the run.
