|
CHICAGO (19-Oct) -- As the first year of the inaugural World Marathon Majors series goes into its penultimate event, the LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon scheduled for Sunday, race organizers took a few moments to look back on the phenomenal growth of the race since LaSalle Bank took over in 1994.
"A lot different than 13 years ago," commented Norman R. Bobins, the chief executive officer of the LaSalle Bank Corporation, the primary sponsor of the marathon.
In 1994, the race registered a respectable 10,021 runners. But by the 2000 edition, under executive race director Carey Pinkowski, the number of registered runners had more than tripled to 33,171, forcing the race to institute a 40,000 runner registration cap in 2003*. Showing its growth as a destination race, more than 60% of the registrants come from outside the state of Illinois, and the event contributes a whopping $100 million to the Chicago economy.
"This is certainly one of his favorite events," said Ron Huberman, referring to mayor Richard M. Daley for whom he works as chief of staff. "It's been an unbelievably well-executed event."
Using Bobins's checkbook, Pinkowski poured money into the elite field, and finish times --especially in the men's race-- began to drop from Luiz Antonio dos Santos's 2:11:16 in 1994, to Khalid Khannouchi's 2:07:10 three years later. It was Khannouchi who put the event on the global athletics map, winning the race four times, setting a world record in 1999, and breaking 2:06 twice. Under Pinkowski, the 2:07 barrier has been broken ten times, and the 2:08 barrier has been cracked 26 times.
"Some of the greatest athletes in the world have competed in this event," said Pinkowski without exaggeration.
One of the most consistent performers in the history of the race, Daniel Njenga of Kenya, is back to race at Chicago for the fifth time. He's been second twice and third twice, and although he has never run slower than 2:07:44 at Chicago, he has yet to win the race.
"This is the fifth time," Njenga told the media today. "But this year... I have to win the race."
Sunday's winner will receive $125,000 in prize money plus the chance to earn generous time bonuses. A sub-2:06 clocking is worth an additional $125,000, while a $300,000 bonus is on the table for a new world record.
*A registrant is anyone who signs up for the race and is not to be confused with a finisher. The race had 32,868 finishers in 2006, making it the second largest marathon in the United States behind the ING New York City Marathon which had 36,856 finishers. The New York race is the world's largest.
|
Know someone else who's interested in running and triathlon?
