Kurt Diana of Chicago is a lifelong runner who will be running the Christie Clinic Illinois Half Marathon for the third time on April 30. He enjoys the personalized bibs, the spectators calling out his name as he runs past and the finish in Memorial Stadium.
“The support is just excellent along the route,” Diana said.
During this year’s half marathon, though, Diana’s focus will be on his late son, Mike.
Mike died in February 2021 from fentanyl poisoning at age 28. He was not a runner, but he was a high school hockey player who wore number 28 on his jersey. Kurt Diana will wear bib No. 28 during the race. Through his run, Diana hopes to get Mike’s story out and keep his memory alive.
“I’m hoping to get the message out, in some small ways, about the dangers of fentanyl and how it can happen to anybody and how horrible it is in this country,” he said.
Mike and his girlfriend had a 3-year-old son, Alex, and they had been talking about getting married. But he had addiction issues, and he died after taking Xanax that was laced with fentanyl, Diana said.
“He had some depression and anxiety issues, and he self-medicated. It came about so innocently, it seemed. All of a sudden, you find yourself with addiction issues. People are looking for some kind of relief, and when they find it, one thing leads to another very quickly. With fentanyl in the mix, it’s going to kill a lot of people, and it’s such a shame,” Diana said.
“Fentanyl gets mixed with opioids, Xanax and cannabis, and it has a good chance of being fatal. Drug overdose is the leading cause of death for 18- to 45-year-olds, and 42 percent of fatal overdoses are fentanyl,” he said.
Diana has begun giving presentations to school groups about the dangers of fentanyl, working with other parents he met in a grief group for people who have lost children to a drug overdose. He’s now developing his own presentations, with support from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Diana’s wife, Patty, one of their two twin daughters, Katie, and Mike’s girlfriend, Mireya, will be in Champaign-Urbana watching the race.
Running helps Diana cope with Mike’s death.
“I’m probably running more now than I have in a long time. It’s a lot of stress relief. I certainly do rely on running to get me through tough times,” Diana said.
“I think about Mike a lot when I run. I run along the lake. I travel a lot, and I run along beaches in Florida. It’s a nice time to just talk to him.”
