Normally at work, we go out and find news and report it. Rarely does the news come to us. But Marathon Sunday, that's what happened as thousands of runners sped right by our 
studio window just before they hit the two mile mark on State Street for the marathon. I had the pleasure of filling in as one of the anchors for the morning show, and had a great view of the action as the leaders seemed to sprint by, followed by about a half hour of runners at all paces. I took a picture or two from anchor desk, to show you my perspective, and Mark Bishop (who was doing the weather on the sidewalk outside) took several more shots. My wife was taking pictures at the 4 and 9 mile marks as well, so I have lots of pictures to share.
It was inspiring to say the least. We spent much of the morning talking about the 
marathon as it was the biggest story of the day anyway. You can imagine I had no complaints.
It seemed like a great day to run, other than being about 20 degrees too warm. That's the nature of sports though. You have to train to deal with the elements you are given, and hope for the best.
Most of the stories in the news leading up to the race focused on last year's heat, and the decision to stop the race early. Afterward the stories mentioned this year's heat, but also made clear it wasn't a problem. Kudos to the marathon staff for the changes they made this year to add the alert system, additional medical staff, as well as thousands of extra gallons of 
water and Gatorade along the course.
I was watching for some of my friends running by, including several of my media teammates from the MC200 race, but all were lost in the blur of runners going by. Thanks to Bart Yasso from Runner's World magazine, and Dave Zimmer from Fleet Feet Sports for being guests of the show. They offered some terrific insight on the race. And congratulations to my friend Greg Sanchez from NBC, who ran a 3:16, despite his concerns about having too little time to train because of his new baby boy. I can relate to those issues-times 3!
The race among the elites was also great. The lead pack of men was on a blistering 
record pace early on, and the winner, Evans Cheruiyot ran his best race ever. For the women, it was interesting as well. Lidiya Grigoryeva of Russia won, but it was also a gutsy run for Constantina Tomescu-Dita, the Olympic champion. I was wondering how she would come back from the Beijing race so quickly and recover to run here. When I talked to her Thursday, she was hoping to run 2:22 or so if the conditions were right. She ended up running 2:30 though, about 3 minutes behind the winner and in 4th place.
It was a great way to get me psyched up for New York in a couple weeks. I ran a 20 miler 
over the weekend on the path that was much less crowded than normal. Everyone was resting! But now I too get to enter the best part of marathon training: the taper! I'll be writing more about New York in the future, but today, I just want to congratulate everyone who ran, or volunteered here in Chicago. Great Job!
John,
As a first-time marathoner, I am overwhelmed with joy and gratitude for the amazing experience I had during yesterday's race. I agree the Chicago Marathon Team did a wonderful job of keeping all of us hydrated and safe during some pretty warm weather. Likewise, the city of Chicago pulled together with free ice, pretzels and an overwhelming excitement for the runners.
The only thing that has left a sour taste in my mouth is the lack of acknowledgement for the "slower" finishers. Whose decision was it to only print the names of those that finished in less then 6 hours? Yes, I placed 29,602nd at a time of 6:16:33- not necessarily trophy worthy. According to the numbers there are more then 1,500 that finished after me. This means there are thousands of us whose efforts were not recognized. Why is only a portion of the Chicago Marathoners names listed in the Chicago Tribune? Does a 6+ hour marathon time in record heat not count?
Kendra Meyer
Chicago Marathon Finisher 2008
6:16:33
Posted by: Kendra Meyer | October 14, 2008 at 02:32 PM
Kendra,
Congratulations! I don't know why they chose an arbitrary time cut-off like that. Your accomplishment is certainly as worthy as any other finisher. Hopefully you have pictures to go with your finisher's medal and memories of a great day. Good job! John
Posted by: John | October 14, 2008 at 08:55 PM