FEATURE: Ignite the Spirit Runner Trains for the Chicago Marathon
Our Charity of the Month partner for September is 'Ignite The Spirit.' Ignite the Spirit is a charity established by the Chicago Fire Department to help provide funding and resources to our Brothers & Sisters as well as our community in time of need.
We recently sat down with John Borner, Chicago Fire Department firefighter and runner currently training for the Chicago Marathon to talk to him about his training, work, and how it all fits together.
A: About 1994
Q: What is your favorite part about running?
A: Physical benefits and stress relief
Q: How does your running and training flow with your work and Ignite the Spirit?
A: My running/training works out great with my work schedule. My schedule is 24 hours on and then 48 hours off. I get off work in the mornings about 6:00 am and I run each morning after my shift. So that means I run 2 or 3 times per week. For marathon training, I add a long run in on the weekend, depending which day of the weekend that I work. Ignite the Spirit is a charity associated with the CFD, so it's a part of many things that are going on in the CFD. They have many fundraisers and social events so this is just another one. But Ignite the Spirit is what got me back into marathons. I hadn't run a marathon since 2007 prior to the 2021 Chicago Marathon.
Q: What does getting to represent Ignite the Spirit mean to you?
A: It means a lot to me. After 2007 I had no desire to ever run a marathon again. But when Ignite got the charity partnership, the team organizer came to me to ask me to run because they were in need of more participants. Ignite does so much good for so many people, there was no way that I could say "no." The board members work their tails off to raise money for Ignite, so when they asked me I was happy to say yes.
Q: If you could leave everyone with one piece of information about Ignite the spirit, what would it be?
A: Ignite helps First Responders and their families in times of need. It may be an illness, injury, hardship, anything. But they not only help first responders but they also help the communities that first responders live in. There was once a fire in a school that many CFD member's kids attend, so Ignite bought the school all new computers. Ignite also brings presents to kids in the hospital every Christmas. The board that runs Ignite are selfless people that give so much of their time to help out fellow first responders, so I am so happy to be able to help them out.
Stop by any Fleet Feet Chicago store throughout the month of September and look for the fireman's boot where you can donate to the fund.
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