With the goal of bagging himself the much coveted Abbotts World Marathon Major Six Star Medal, the latest stop of the journey took Grzegorz Kazaniecki across the pond to the Windy City of Chicago, Illinois. That was to be his third major after London last year and Berlin the year before.

Preparations for the Chicago Marathon had gone well for Grzeg and he was hopeful that he could have a chance of beating his PB of 2 hours 54 minutes and 35 seconds which he did at London in April. Representing Dorset in the Inter Counties Half Marathon contest at Chippenham, Grzeg ran a 1:22:36 time as part of his training block leading up to the marathon.

He does tend to be quite susceptible to injuries though so he approached it with a degree of trepidation. He was right to as well as after the race he had a bit of a calf twinge which forced him to rest for a few days after. He expected to still be fully fit for Chicago though so he wasn’t overly concerned at that stage.

Two weeks before the marathon was due to take place he caught a cold which caused him to start to feel a bit weak. He wasn’t prepared to give up on his target though of getting a PB so persevered with his original plan.

Going the first 5k in 21:03, he then began to feel a pain in his calf. That forced him to slow down, posting a 22:03 for his second 5k. The pain seemed to subside after that so he set about gently trying to make up for the time he’d lost. That led to a 20:15 for his next 5k and a 20:47 after that. At 20km he got a stitch though, or a pain near his liver.

Trying to push on through it wasn’t easy and he had to keep slowing down. He went through the half way point in 1:28:52 which put him on course for possibly a sub three, but most likely not a PB.

Seemingly unable to shake off the pain, he stopped to walk several times but it still wouldn’t go away. Nothing seemed to help. That left him struggling for the last 20km which was a long time. His last two 5ks were 28:21 and 28:24 and all thoughts of a time he would have been pleased with had gone out the window. It had turned into a battle for survival. He just wanted to make it to the finish and collect his medal. That was it.

Showing the grit and character to see it through despite his troubles, Grzeg made it to the line in 3:15:45 in the end. It wasn’t the time he was hoping for but that is unfortunately how marathons can be sometimes. They don’t always go according to plan.

His overall finishing position was 6,961st and in the 45 to 49 age group, he came 655th. There 52,084 people who successfully completed the Chicago Marathon that day.

Poole AC man Barry Miller was also running the Chicago Marathon and after reaching the half way stage in 1:22:56, he went on to complete the course in 2 hours 51 minutes which put him 1,510th overall and 175th in the 40 to 44 age group.

Neil Sexton of Poole Runners was there as well and he got round in 3:23:36 which put him 9,366th overall and 890th in the 45 to 49 age group.

Elleanor Rollett of Dorchester RIOT did it too and she finished in 3:31:13 which put her 2,658th female and 12,054th overall. In the 55 to 59 category, she was 21st as well, so that was a good result for her.

Taking a few weeks off after the marathon, Grzeg is now fully recuperated and back running again. He’s already looking forward to his next marathon challenge which will see him head back across the pond for the Boston Marathon. That will be another of the Six Stars ticked off, or Seven as it is now with Sydney being added into the equation.

He’ll certainly be hoping that Boston will go rather more smoothly, like his London one did last April, and if he can put another good training block together he may well have another tilt at bettering his PB.