Chicago Marathon is one of the world’s most popular annual marathons . The race is run through about 30 Chicago neighborhoods, starting and finishing at Grant Park in the downtown area. The marathon is held in October. The flat course has resulted in especially fast times, including several world and national records.
Thousands of amateur and professional runners compete in the marathon every year, and hundreds of thousands of spectators line the race route of 26 miles 385 yards (42.2 kilometers). The marathon is limited to 45,000 runners. Registration by lottery was introduced in 2014, but there are exceptions for elite runners, past participants who meet qualifying standards, charities, and international tour partners. Only runners who finish within 6 1/2 hours are officially timed.
Male and female athletes must be at least 16 years old to be eligible. Runners compete in 1 of 14 age groups for both males and females, from 16 to 19 years of age through 80 and older. The fastest finishers receive prize money. Many runners compete as members of teams. The team competition offers male, female, mixed (both sexes), and masters (older runners) categories.
The Chicago Marathon was inaugurated in 1977. By the early 1980’s, it was attracting world class runners. The marathon has been held every year since 1977 except for 1987, when it was shortened to a half marathon. A forerunner of the present Chicago Marathon was run from 1905 until the early 1920’s.
In 2006, the organizers of the Berlin , Boston , Chicago, London , and New York City marathons joined to create the World Marathon Majors. Tokyo joined as the sixth major in 2013. In addition to prize money awarded for the individual marathons, runners compete for an annual $1-million prize. The prize is based on points runners earn for their performance in the major marathons plus the World Championship marathon and the Olympic Games marathon, when held.
See also Boston Marathon ; New York City Marathon ; Tokyo Marathon
