2012 Chicago Marathon: Registration Opens February 1st

Registration for the 35th running of the Bank of America Chicago Marathon opened at noon on February 1st. The race is open to the first 45,000 runners who are ready for the challenge of completing 26.2 miles in the Windy City this coming October. For the first time, I will be one of the participants and I can't wait! I may have completely lost my mind as this will be my 2nd marathon in 2012, but you only live once, right?

As a part of the opening of the registration, I was invited to attend the Registration Kickoff party hosted by Carey Pinkowski, Chicago Marathon Race Executive Director, and special guest Abdi Abdirahman, 2012 US Olympic Marathon Team Member. I was also given the chance to sit down with Abdi and talk running with him (more on that to follow). This was the closest that I had been to an Olympic level athlete since I ran in the 2009 Rock n Roll Chicago Half Marathon in which Kara Goucher also ran (her 1:08:05 was only about 45 minutes faster than me, but whose counting).

Talking with Abdi was a tremendous honor, he is an amazing guy, is very humble about his running success, and if nothing else he has gained a new fan in me. The kickoff event was an invitation-only event for 350 people who had traditionally been early registrants into the marathon. Everyone was given the opportunity to sign up early, get a chance to meet Abdi, go for a three mile fun run in Lincoln Park , and then back to the Fleet Feet on Wells St for a reception and some additional comments from Carey and Abdi.

The marathon is still over eight months away, but I can tell you that the people that I met at the kickoff event are excited and ready to start training. Last year the marathon sold out in 31 days, so if you are thinking about running, don’t wait too long. Let the journey begin….”don’t stop believing”.