Chicago Marathon
Congratulations to Buster Creative’s Alice Hlavin and George Demet for competing in the recent Bank of America Chicago Marathon! On October 9, 2011, Alice and George were among the 45,000 participants who took part in the famous, world-class race, which starts at Chicago’s Grant Park and winds 26.2 miles through 29 of the city’s neighborhoods. As one of the fastest growing marathon road races in the world, the Chicago marathon stands alongside Boston, New York, London and Berlin Marathons, as one of the five World Marathon Majors. This year’s record-breaking Chicago marathon winners include Kenya’s Moses Mosop, who finished at 2:05:37, and Russia’s Liliya Shobukhova, who clocked in at 2:18:20.
Here’s a recap of the 2011 Chicago Marathon by the numbers.
34: Years the Chicago Marathon has raced through the Windy City. The race started in 1977.
4,200: Runners in the first Chicago Marathon back in 1977.
45,000: Participants in the 2011 Chicago Marathon. Regular registration ended in record time this year, with the maximum number signing up in just 31 days, three weeks faster than last year.
29: Neighborhoods runners will traverse during the marathon, including the Loop, East Lakeview, West Loop, Little Italy, Chinatown, Pilsen and more.
6: Continents with runners representing them in the race. Participants have come from all over the globe in recent years, including many Olympians.
58,420: Gallons of water available for thirsty runners at stations throughout the race.
48,250: Gatorade bottles available for runners.
4: Times Khalid Khannouchi won the Marathon. First in 1997, then in 1999, 2000 and 2002.
2 hours, 17 minutes, 18 seconds: Time of the marathon’s fastest female runner, Paula Radcliffe of Great Britain in 2002.
2 hours, 5 minutes, 41 seconds: Time of the marathon’s fastest male runner, Sammy Wanjiru of Kenya, in 2009. Wanjiru passed away in May.
