A marathon runner gave up a shot at breaking her personal record to veer off course and save a tiny

• Sarah Bohan, a runner from Boston, was on pace to beat her personal record at the Chicago Marathon.
• But at mile 21, she stopped and walked a mile to help a stray kitten along the course.
• Bohan, who ran for an animal-welfare group, found a spectator to care for the cat before finishing the race.

Sarah Bohan, a 26-year-old runner from Boston, was well on her way to setting her personal record during the 2023 Chicago Marathon.

But as she approached a tunnel with roughly 5 miles remaining, she spotted "something white and fluffy" out of the corner of her eye, according to a representative for PAWS Chicago. She slowed to a walk and inched close enough to identify it as a kitten — and by the looks of it, the tiny puff was in need of some help.

"The kitten was dirty, scared, and skinny, and looked to be separated from its mother," Bohan said, according to the representative. "When I picked it up, it was matted, and I knew it was a stray."

Bohan had a split-second decision to make: Should she put the kitten back down on the sidewalk in a crowded area of the city, let it chart its own path, and chase down her personal record, or should she keep hold of the kitten, walk the course, and take the time to find it a safe place to land?

The kitten was in luck. Bohan is an animal lover with two rescue cats of her own back home. Better yet, she was running Sunday's marathon with Team PAWS Chicago — a group representing an animal-welfare organization.

How could she not sacrifice her own race time for the benefit of a helpless little creature?

So Bohan nuzzled the kitten, which she estimated weighed less than a pound, into her chest and set off to find a bystander who might offer the cat a loving home. Along the way, she crossed paths with Gia Nigro, a fellow animal lover and marathon runner, who joined Bohan in searching for a kitty caretaker.

About a mile down the course, Bohan and Nigro found a race spectator who promised to keep their new friend, so Bohan handed over the cat.

Bohan and Nigro then ran the final few miles of the race side-by-side. They even slowed their pace again — this time to help carry an injured German runner across the finish line.

Bohan finished the marathon in an impressive three hours, 31 minutes, and 35 seconds (but missed out on the chance to beat her existing personal record of three hours, 12 minutes, and 59 seconds). Nigro, who started the race a few minutes before Bohan, clocked in at 3:34:53.

Bohan has already raised more than $$1,750 for PAWS Chicago — an organization that aims to save healthy animals from euthanasia and find them safe homes. She has plans to chase her personal record at the Boston Marathon this coming April and again at next year's Chicago Marathon — as a member of Team PAWS, of course.

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