Jane Bareikis is a mom.
The Crestwood resident almost didn’t run in Saturday’s Hidden Gem Half Marathon in Flossmoor. Her son, Armin, wasn’t feeling well the night before. She wasn’t sure if she should run.
“I really had a bad night last night,” Bareikis said. “I was running, and I was thinking about him. I’m glad (I came).”
Armin was enough inspiration to propel Bareikis to win the women’s race, posting a time of 1 hour, 15 minutes and 28 seconds. She earned the $1,500 first prize.
“In running, sometimes you crash and sometimes you feel great and then you crash. It’s up and down. Racing is like that,” she said. “My goal is to just win.”
Bareikis had Covid and missed the 2021 Hidden Gem. She finished second in 2019, the race’s inaugural year. There was no race in 2020.
“I’m proud I won today,” she said. “The course is great. The cheering was amazing. I think the weather was fair. It’s a great day.”
On the men’s side, Chicago native and resident Oscar Medina crossed the finish line first at 1:05:17. He was running with an injury to a tendon on his right foot. He saw a doctor Wednesday to make sure he’d be able to run.
Medina expected the foot to be swollen after the run. He said he was concerned with it at the turns.
“To be able to run that quick and not feel pain was a real win for me,” he said. “Ice and Advil will do the trick.”
Medina used the Hidden Gem as part of his training toward the Berlin Marathon. He’ll run that on Sept. 25. He said one of his Second City Track Club teammates ran with him for the first half of the course. He was able to maintain the pace through the end.
“I’m feeling pretty sharp,” Medina said. “I’m feeling strong. It was nice to be able to finish.”
Medina finished third in first Hidden Gem in 2019.
Peter Jaros, of Homewood, and Patrick Mitoraj, of Flossmoor, were the fastest local runners. Jaros took 96th place with a time of 1:26:49. That was 77th place in the men’s category. Mitoraj finished with a time of 1:28:32. That was good for 98th place out of 826 runners and 81st of 381 men.
