Patrick Vezino is set to run the annual Chicago Marathon on Sunday morning, Oct. 9, marking his fourth marathon. His best time to date is 4:17 and his goal this year is, well, one minute better: 4:16.
Vezino, 41, lives in Chicago's Uptown neighborhood and is a partner in the law firm Baker & Enright. Originally from Tucson, Ariz., he has been living in Chicago since 1992 when he moved here to attend law school at DePaul.
Nicknamed Patty, he is training for the marathon with the Team To End AIDS ( T2 ) , the endurance-training program run by the AIDS Foundation of Chicago ( AFC ) . This training program annually raises more than $500,000 to coordinate and provide care to those living with HIV and AIDS as well as advocate at the state and federal level.
"While running the marathon is a life-changing experience, knowing that I am helping friends and others impacted with a life-changing disease is what keeps me running after 20-plus miles and will help me finish the marathon," Vezino said. "One of my best friends is HIV-positive and has been for [ more than ] 12 years. He, as well as other friends, uses some of the services that money raised through [ T2 for AFC ] provide, and I know what a huge impact it has on their day to day lives.
"Knowing that I am helping others is very emotional. I remember crossing the finish line of my first Chicago Marathon with other members of my training group with tears streaming down my face and being elated that we had reached a personal goal, but had helped so many people through our efforts. That is part of the reason I returned to the training program this year."
Vezino ran his first marathon in 2005.
"Training with T2 is a wonderful experience, thanks to the excellent coaching staff and encouraging fellow runners; and it's great to raise money for a wonderful cause," Vezino said. "I would never run 10-plus miles on my own, but the [ training ] group always encourages me and makes the run fun and interesting."
In return, he added, "I hope to encourage fellow runners to finish the marathon and raise awareness for the program and those living with HIV."
Vezino is the pace-group leader for the Tegla Loroupe group, which started rather small, he admits, but has grown to more than 15 runners.
"We have so much fun running and manage to motivate each other to keep going when our feet and legs have other ideas," Vezino said, laughing. "As a group of 14 men and one woman, we naturally admire the other hot [ male ] runners along the lakefront. We were trying to devise a system whereby we could communicate to one another when a hot guy was running toward us without shouting it out. Zak George and Bill Marsland came up with the idea of yelling out Goo, which is a product we use to boost our energy along the run. It has been an effective means of alerting each other to someone who is visually appealing, which helps on the run.
"The training certainly isn't all serious business en route to the starting-line."
Vezino said his favorite memory this season was listening to fellow runners Peter Ruger and Emily Thies singing songs from Glee on the 20-mile training run to motivate the group to keep going along the dreaded cement corridor between Oak Street Beach and North Avenue.
Next stop for Vezino and T2: the starting-line.
