When Lee Ann Yanni crossed the finish line of the Chicago Marathon yesterday afternoon, her face reflected the message on her shirt: “Boston Wicked Strong.”
The 31-year-old runner, who will wear the scars of Boston for life, finished the race yesterday in 5 hours and 44 minutes, a feat that seemed impossible 6 months ago when she was lying on the pavement, amid the smoke, debris, chaos and pain of the Boston Marathon finish line.
“I shouldn’t be running right now,” Yanni laughed as she hobbled down the street. “But I just finished a marathon, so if you set your mind to it, it’s totally possible.”
Yanni’s 26.2 mile journey sent a message to the world of strength and determination in the face of tragedy. Shrapnel from the bombs on Boylston Street shattered her left leg and destroyed her muscles. It took her two months to relearn how to walk. She jogged in a pool for months, with the water supporting her. She didn’t run on pavement until August. Her longest run before yesterday, was 11.3 miles the week before.
“That was never going to stop me,” Yanni said. “From the moment I sat down with a tourniquet on my leg, this was the goal and I just did it, I finished it.”
Yanni said that along the route she was greeted by shouts of “Boston Strong!” As she crossed the line, the announcer yelled to the crowd over a loudspeaker, “Lee Ann Yanni, survivor of the Boston Marathon bombing, running today!”
The crowd burst into cheers.
When told what Yanni had come back from, people in the crowd said, “That’s amazing,” and “that’s so inspiring!” and just “wow.”
The paces Yanni faced between lying in the hospital bed for eight days and finally stepping across Chicago’s finish line weren’t easy. Lee Ann, a physical therapist herself, kept herself reaching for the next challenge every day.
“It is a little crazy,” admitted Chris Clock, her physical therapist and co-worker. “It’s a pretty aggressive goal.”
Clock is one of many people who worked to get Yanni back to running.
“I’m not even sure if I’m still walking actually,” she laughed. “And I think if I stop, I’m not sure what’s going to happen after that.”
Yanni signed up for Chicago in February on the Livestrong charity team. She ran in honor of her dad, who died of cancer last October, and he was the one getting her through the tough parts of the course.
“I know he would be proud,” Yanni said, choking up.
She’s not one to get teary-eyed easily, but this arduous physical and mental accomplishment brought out so much emotion.
“I’m so happy, this all paid off and we did it,” she said, grinning through her tears.
After the race, Lee Ann walked in a daze toward the people handing out the silver warming capes and the medals. She pointed to the red and blue ribbons holding Chicago’s medals and mustered the words, “I want that.”
Next year, she plans to wear a blue and yellow ribbon around her neck with a medal that reads “Boston Marathon 2014.”
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