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The Chicago Marathon celebrated its fortieth anniversary in 2017 and now attracts forty-five thousand runners.

Illinois

CHICAGO MARATHON

RECOMMENDED BY Peter Sagal

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When Peter Sagal saw a shadowy figure clad in a black cloak and bearing a scythe in the distance, he did what any sane person would do—he started to run.

“I had run cross-country in high school in New Jersey,” Peter began. “But as I got older, I slowed down a bit. As I was turning forty, I had a classic midlife crisis. I thought, ‘Now I’m going to die . . . but if I run a marathon, I won’t die.’ I tried to train up in 2005 to see if I could finish the Chicago Marathon, as I live in Chicago now. I found a plan online and tried to keep with it. Unfortunately, I didn’t start slowly enough and injured myself, which led to me missing more than a month of training in the middle. I wondered if I should go through with it, but as I’d told everyone that I was going to run, I had to. I made many of the mistakes one could make in running their first marathon, but I finished in four hours and three minutes. I thought that I’d be done with it. But as time passed, I became interested in seeing if I could improve on my first time. Since then, I’ve become a serious runner . . . and I eventually cut almost an hour off my original time.”

The Chicago Marathon as we know it today was first conceived of in November of 1976, by five Chicagolanders: Wayne Goeldner, physical education director of the Hyde Park YMCA; Wendell “Wendy” Miller, a partner in a financial advising firm and founder of Midwest Masters Running Club; Bill Robinson, executive director of Friends of the Parks; Sharon Mier, director of women’s sports at the Loop Center YMCA; and Dr. Noel Nequin, director of cardiac rehabilitation at Swedish Covenant Hospital. Although plans for the marathon were slow to materialize, Dr. Nequin was able to organize a ten-mile run, the Ravenswood Bank Lakefront, in May of 1977. The race had been expected to attract three hundred runners, but one thousand showed up—including then Chicago mayor Michael Bilandic, who liked to run. His interest in a longer run was piqued—and as often is the case in the Windy City, a little interest from the mayor goes a long way. Chicago’s inaugural marathon was held on September 25, 1977, attracting more than 4,200 participants, thus making it the world’s largest marathon to that date.

These days, the Bank of America Chicago Marathon limits participation to forty-five thousand runners and is classified as one of the six World Marathon Majors.

“I’ve run a number of different urban marathons,” Peter continued. “Chicago offers a tremendous course. For starters, it’s very convenient, starting and ending right at the lakefront [at Grant Park]. You don’t have to get yourself to a faraway starting point. The way the course is set up offers a wonderful tour of the city’s neighborhoods. [The course visits twenty-nine neighborhoods in all.] And it takes you past many Chicago landmarks—among them the Loop, Wrigley Field, and Chinatown. Plus, it’s flat as a pancake.” (This last facet of the race has made Chicago the site of more than a few world and national records over the years . . . not to mention a multitude of personal bests.)

“The first half of the race is fantastic,” Peter continued. “You’re running north through the Loop, and the crowds are out. You head through the canyon of LaSalle Street and then up toward Lincoln Park. By the time you reach Boystown, the streets are packed. [Attendance in 2016 was estimated at 1.7 million.] There are cheerleaders and rock bands playing. You continue out to the West Side, where you’ll pass the United Center [home of the Chicago Bulls and Blackhawks]. From here you begin to head back downtown. You’ll run through some of the older ethnic neighborhoods—Little Italy, Greektown, then Chinatown, where there are dragon dancers to cheer you on. Not long after comes the toughest stretch. Many marathon courses begin by taking runners past less interesting areas and conclude with the most exciting spots. Chicago does the opposite. With six miles to go, you reach the most desolate part of the course. It’s a post-industrial stretch along Interstate 94, 1.5 miles that test runners’ souls. I actually wrote a short play about that stretch. But like any good drama, things soon improve. First comes Bronzeville, then the Illinois Institute of Technology campus. When you turn onto Michigan Avenue, you can hear the crowds. From here, it’s a final dash to a right turn on Roosevelt Road, and then a left turn to the finish back at Grant Park. I’ll never forget the 2006 race. I was hoping to qualify for the Boston Marathon, and I was on pace to do so. Then I got a cramp on Michigan Avenue. I was terrified, but I made it by nineteen seconds!”

No reflection on the Chicago running scene would be complete without mention of the Lakefront Trail, an eighteen-mile stretch along Lake Michigan that has encouraged tens of thousands of Chicagoans to get out and run.


PETER SAGAL left Berkeley Heights, New Jersey, to attend Harvard University and subsequently squandered that education while working as a literary manager for a regional theater, a movie publicist, a stage director, an actor, an extra in a Michael Jackson video, a travel writer, an essayist, a ghostwriter for a former adult film impresario, and a staff writer for a motorcycle magazine. He is the author of numerous plays that have been performed in large and small theaters around the country and abroad. Peter has also written a number of screenplays, including Savage, a cheesy vehicle for obscure French kick-boxer Olivier Gruner, and Cuba Mine, an original screenplay that became, without his knowledge, the basis for Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights. Among Peter’s honors in the theater are a Drama-Logue Award for directing, grants from the Jerome and McKnight Foundations, and a residency grant at the Camargo Foundation in Cassis, France. In 1997, Peter joined the panel of a news quiz show on NPR, coproduced by WBEZ Chicago, which made its debut on-air in January of 1998. In May of that year, he moved to Chicago to become the host of the show. Since then, Wait Wait . . . Don’t Tell Me! has become one of the most popular shows on public radio, heard by nearly three million listeners on 520 public radio stations nationwide and by a million people every month via podcast. He is also the author of The Book of Vice: Very Naughty Things (and How to Do Them) and a book about running to be published by Simon and Schuster.

If You Go

Images Getting There: Chicago is served by most major carriers.

Images Best Time to Visit: The Bank of America Chicago Marathon is held in early October.

Images Race Information: The Chicago Marathon website (chicagomarathon.com) covers all the details you need to participate (including how to apply). Though spots fill up fast, some slots are available for latecomers through charity organizations.

Images Accommodations: The Chicago Hilton (855-760-0869; hilton.com) is the official hotel of the marathon. Other options are highlighted at Choose Chicago (choosechicago.com).