Team Greek America Runner Returns from Chicago Marathon

For months, Jeff Vargas was training for his adventure to the Chicago Marathon. The 26.2-mile run marked Vargas' first marathon attempt. Even as a fitness coach and athlete, Vargas said that nothing can really prepare you for the grueling task.

Vargas returned to Tarpon Springs last week and has shared the story in his own words.

First off, he drove instead taking a plane. Vargas said that some people still don't understand his reasoning, but he tried to explain:

"To me, driving is a little like running in that it helps me relax and get focused. I had been really stressing in the last few weeks leading up to the race. Due to injury and illness, I was only able to get up to 15 miles for my longest run and that really affected my confidence. The thought of a possible DNF (did not finish) next to my name on the race results kept me awake many nights. Knowing that I would not be close to being at my best, I needed to change my thought process entirely. I'm extremely competitive so it has always been about winning or at least striving for a personal record. Chicago would be different than anything I had ever done. The only goal would be to finish! I do a lot of internalization and visualization, and I really just wanted some time alone. I decided I would leave the watch at home and told myself I would look away at every time check on race day. I jumped in the car and hit the road."

Since the race would be the first for Team Greek America as well, Vargas was in good company when he finally met his new teammates. When asked what the timelines was like once he arrived in Chicago, Vargas wrote:

"I met my teammates for the first time on Saturday night at a pre-race dinner sponsored by the Greek America Foundation. It was an opportunity to bond and I think some good friendships began that night. I believe we had 18 first-time marathoners and most of us were a bit anxious. We met again the next morning for a pre-race breakfast, walked to the starting line together and then met back at the team headquarters to celebrate finishing. A small group of us later went out to dinner- in Greek Town of course!"

As far as the race goes, Vargas stuck to his guns and never looked at the clocks as he passed them along the course. To this day, he doesn't know his finishing time. According to Vargas, all that matters is that he finished.

Vargas describes his first marathon experience, mile by mile:

"I haven't been that cold in 20 years! Thankfully, one of my teammates offered me some arm warmers right before the start, so that helped a bit. Once the race started, I was surprisingly pretty relaxed until mile 14, when another runner fell right in front of me, and while trying to avoid her, I felt a little cramp in my hamstring. Things started to slowly deteriorate from there. I loved running through the different Chicago neighborhoods, but especially going through Greek Town. I knew the crowd would be amazing there and I knew they would go crazy whenever any Team Greek America runners came through. Even though It was mostly cloudy, I put my sunglasses on because I was afraid I might get a little emotional. I was right, but they really gave me a well needed lift.  At mile 20, my pre-existing injuries started surfacing. I tried to relax and work through it, but by mile 22 I was really suffering. I kept telling myself, 'relax and just keep moving,' but by mile 23 my legs were gone! I can deal with the pain, but I've never been that frustrated in my life. My body was quitting on me! You start getting philosophical, but mostly I was just pissed off and thinking about how i drove 20 hrs to get there and that I would crawl before I quit! So I started thinking that if I could just make it to mile 25, I would be fine. I guess the adrenaline kicked in because before I knew it, I was entering Grant Park at mile 26, and staring at the finish line. Mission accomplished! I think because of the struggle involved, the result of finishing was more self satisfying, than if i had  been healthy and run a Boston qualifying time."

Some may think that a celebratory dance or emotional outpouring would have followed Vargas' finish. Nope. Accoring to him, the feeling when he finished was just plain weird:

"Actually, it's kind of odd but I had no emotion whatsoever. Maybe I was just physically and emotionally spent, but I felt absolutely nothing crossing the finish line. It was a bizarre feeling. I felt empty!"

Vargas added that the Greek America Foundation was in his mind throughout the entire race. He emphasized the inspiration he gained from running the race and representing the group:

"It wasn't about time, or even about the race per say. It was going to be a test. I knew at some point my body would want to quit and that's really when you learn about yourself. I was anxious to see how I would respond. Right up until I left for Chicago, I had some people telling me to bail on the race if I wasn't healthy enough and that I had nothing to prove, or that there would be other races. That is exactly what happened to me twice before, but this time I was inspired to at least try, mainly because of my affiliation with Team Greek America. I had been raising money, throwing parties and looking forward to this event for several months. I had too much time and energy invested. It wasn't just about me this time. I had to try, and i knew the results would not matter as long as I fought a good fight."

Vargas went on to give more details about the Greek America Foundation as well as his team:

"I really can't say enough thanks to Team Greek America and The Greek America Foundation. I believe this was a life changing event. We had runners from Chicago, St. Louis, New York, New Jersey and even one from Toronto that was injured, but still came for the weekend. Even though we were together less than 48 hours, I feel like some strong friendships were formed. I've never been around a group of strangers that bonded as quickly and genuinely seemed to care for each other. One example is how we waited for, and greeted each other post race at the team headquarters. We had one runner that finished in 3:11 yet still waited for the last runner to return about 3 hrs later. Even more impressive, through a raffle drawing, we had two runners win highly coveted automatic entry into Boston, and both gave them away to other teammates! I was like, 'WOW!' It speaks very highly of the character of all who were involved. The Greek America Foundation and all the runners involved have a lot to be proud of. We raised $28,000 and had a blast doing it!  One final note I must make is I have to say 'thank you' to Vasile Faklis at Faklis Orthopedic Services for making it possible to just get to the starting line! And also to George Patides for all his fundraising efforts and constant support."

As Vargas looks ahead, he is adamant about competing in other marathons. But doctor's orders will have him laid up for a bit:

"I will absolutely run more marathons, with Athens, Greece being at the top of the list!  But first I need to rest, recover and then reload. I've got some leg issues to deal with, but I am turning my focus to the upcoming indoor track and field season. I'm a little more comfortable on the track than on the roads and I've got my eye on some age group records."