A Chicago Marathon runner gave up a record finish in order to save a stray kitten she found on the course.
The story got sweeter when amid the spectators on the side of the road, she found Andrea Maldonado who called out that she would give the kitten a new home.
Marathoner Sarah Bohan was on track for a personal best when she made a mid-race decision that showed her sponsors PAWS Chicago they had backed the right runner.
Ditching the record, Bohan stopped when, within arm’s length of her place near the side of the road during the 2023 Chicago Marathon, she saw a tiny white face huddled under a pile of leaves. There was always a chance that the athlete might have put the little fellow down and hoped its momma would show up to take him away by the scruff of the neck, but with two rescue cats of her own at home, it was a slim one.
She instead decided to walk the rest of the course, gently nuzzling the 1 pound kitten until she ran into a friend and fellow animal lover Gia Nigro who helped Bohan try to find someone amid the crowds of onlookers to take the kitten off their hands so they could finish.
That’s when Nigro and Bohan came past a barbershop in the Pilsen neighborhood of Chicago and found a family group gathered there.
“We were on the sidelines having fun,” recalled the mom of 4 Andrea Maldonado, “and all of a sudden this girl came up to me with a kitten.”
PAWS Chicago, the rescue organization that Bohan was running to raise money for, posted on Instagram that they were looking to reach Maldonado to offer free vet services as a thank-you for supporting their runner, and the stray kitty.
Maldonado was informed of their offer and took them up, bringing in the little fellow for an examination. Although underweight, he was given a clean bill of health after receiving vaccinations, microchipping, and a flea/tick treatment.
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“Casper” as he is now called in his home with Maldonado, her husband Tony, children Emma, Elise, Evelia, and Enzo, and their two cats and one dog, was the subject of more than 350 media stories in more than a dozen languages.
“Our girls love him,” Maldonado told Business Insider. “Our family loves him. Our dog loves him.”
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Bohan finished the marathon at 3 hours 33 minutes this year and says next year she will go again for that record.
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