- Chicago Marathon runner Sarah Bohan gave up a personal record to save a stray kitten on the course.
- She handed him off to race spectator Andrea Maldonado, who agreed to keep the cat safe.
- Maldonado and her family have since adopted Casper, and he's already "best friends" with their other pets.
The 2023 Chicago Marathon started out similar to every other race day Andrea Maldonado had experienced as a native of the city.
Stationed outside of her brother's barbershop in the Pilsen neighborhood of Chicago, Maldonado stood along the race course with friends and family as they cheered on the thousands of runners approaching the final stretch of their 26.2-mile journey.
But around 11 a.m., this year's marathon took a distinct turn from the many race days she'd attended in years past. Maldonado even has a living, breathing souvenir to prove it, courtesy of a 26-year-old runner from Boston named Sarah Bohan.
Bohan sacrificed a shot at a personal record to rescue a young cat from the edge of the course
Around the 21st mile of the October 8 race, Bohan spotted "something white and fluffy" out of the corner of her eye, according to a representative for PAWS Chicago. As she got closer to the entryway of the overpass, she was able to identify the object as a tiny kitten under a pile of leaves.
It looked "dirty, scared, and skinny," she said. Once she noticed its matted fur, she "knew it was a stray."
Bohan — who had, to that point, been on pace to set her personal record in the race — 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 best-ever finish, 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 the marathon with Team PAWS Chicago — a group representing an animal-welfare organization.
Bohan set out to find a suitable caretaker for the cat — and found one in Maldonado
Bohan nuzzled the kitten, which she estimated weighed less than a pound, into her chest and walked the course 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 someone to look after the kitten.
Bohan and Nigro asked countless spectators if they'd be willing to keep the cat, but even after making their way a mile down the course, they'd had no luck. That's when the duo — and the kitten — came upon Maldonado and her group gathered outside of the barbershop.
"We were on the sidelines having fun," Maldonado recalled, "and all of a sudden this girl came up to me with a kitten."
Maldonado was just the kind of sideline observer the animal-loving runners had been searching for. And even though she already had two cats and a dog at home, she figured "Why not?"
"I knew I could provide him a good home, and we love cats and animals," Maldonado said in a video shared with Insider. "So I said, 'Okay, what's one more, right?'"
"The more the merrier," she added.
PAWS Chicago got in touch with Maldonado and gave the kitten a free medical exam — and a clean bill of health
The day after the race, PAWS Chicago — the group for which Bohan raised money through the marathon — posted an Instagram sharing the story of the kitten's rescue. In the caption, the animal welfare organization offered "the kind Samaritan who stepped up to give this kitten a home" a complimentary check-up with a PAWS veterinarian.
A friend tagged Maldonado, who coincidentally had turned to PAWS Chicago to provide care for one of her other cats. She got in touch with representatives for the shelter and, less than a week later, she, her husband, Tony, and their 4-month-old son, Enzo, brought the kitten in for a medical evaluation.
PAWS Chicago Medical Director Dr. Emily Yacker confirmed the kitten was male and estimated that he was roughly seven weeks old. He weighed in at 1 pound, 12 ounces and received the standard care for a kitten including microchip, vaccinations, and preventive flea and tick treatments.
Though he was slightly underweight for his age, he was given a clean bill of health.
"He's a fighter," Yacker said. "He's very interactive and wants to give you kisses."
"And he really hit the jackpot in terms of finding a family," she added.
Casper has embraced life in his forever home
Coming up with a name for the feline was a group effort. Maldonado and her family noticed that the kitten, who is primarily white with some black spots, had a ghost-shaped patch on the back of his head.
After floating out ideas like "Boo" and "Ghost," Maldonado's brother Daniel — who owns Hop 22 Barbershop — suggested the name "Casper." Everyone agreed it was a perfect fit, especially considering Halloween was just a few weeks away.
By that point, Casper had already warmed up to everyone in his busy household. He's loving towards Andrea and Tony, gentle with baby Enzo, and playful with daughters Emma, Elise, Evelia, according to Maldonado.
Casper even seemed to find friends in the family's three other pets. He's been spotted cuddling up with their dog, Dash, and eating alongside the pair of cats.
"Our girls love him," Maldonado said. "Our family loves him. Our dog loves him."
"I think he's gonna have a good life," she added.
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