The countdown is on. If you've been training all summer, you already know what I'm referring to. Yes, there's that little matter of 26.2 miles you gotta run on October 11th. You know, they call it the Bank of American Chicago marathon. This year marks the 32nd running of the race in our fine city. It's not the oldest. It's not currently the fastest, And it's not the most prestigious.
But it is one of the biggest, fastest, and best marathons in the country. Chicago has seen world records for both genders, and annually attracts some of the top distance runners in the world who are looking for a fast time. Chicago also has more Boston qualifiers than any other marathon. And the 45,000 runners entered make it at least tied with New York for the biggest marathon in the U.S.
I've gotten the chance to run both Boston and New York in the last year, and I can promise you, they have nothing on Chicago! I've lost count of how many times I've run the Chicago marathon, but I've done a bunch of them and have seen the race evolve from a relatively small marathon of about 7,000 or so runners to the race it is today with the field of 45,000 that fills up in April. The million or so fans who line the course are tremendous. The volunteers are wonderful. And the fact that the course starts and finishes in Grant Park, is ideal.
This year marks the 20th year for Carey Pinkowski as director of Chicago's biggest running event. It's been an incredible ride for him, and runners can credit him for helping grow the race to the point where it is today.
Carey tells me when he first took over the marathon they also ran a 5k the same morning. In those early days, the 5k attracted about as many runners as the marathon, about 2800 runners in each. These days that's about the number of people in just the first pen for the runners under 3:10!
John "The Penguin" Bingham describes marathons like Chicago these days as moving festivals. They are parties to celebrate all the training and accomplishment that so many in the middle and back of the pack are experiencing. That's exactly what Chicago has become. Back when there were only a few thousand runners, it was mostly pretty competitive runners who were aiming for relatively ambitious times. There were no walkers. There were no charity runners. There were no giant training programs.
My how things have changed. And Carey Pinkowski has seen it all. He has led the race to become one of the 'big three' marathons in the country, along with New York and Boston. Chicago is also one of the five 'World Marathon Majors', which attract the top athletes in a points competition for a million dollar prize.
He's had his share of troubles as well. No one will forget the 2007 marathon that suffered from extreme heat and humidity and had to be stopped before everyone finished. And 2008 was pretty warm also. But that's part of the job. Before the last couple years, I used to think Carey had made a deal with the devil to insure great weather every year on marathon day. But when it comes down to it, in my opinion, the weather is simply a variable that runners have to deal with. The marathon is a grueling event that requires tremendous effort. The first guy who did one, back in ancient times, died at the end! But as soon as you show me a race director who can control the weather, I'll show you a candidate for a promotion!
I don't think Carey is looking for a promotion. This is a guy who loves what he does. He was a tremendously talented runner himself back in the day, and working on races and with runners, is not work to him. So on the verge of the big race, give a shout out to Carey Pinkowski for helping make the race what it is today!
You can see part of the interview I did with him here: http://abclocal.go.com/wls/video?id=7043865
See you on the roads....
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