Chicago has a lot of nicknames. So many, and yet not one of them has to do with the marathon. Being awarded a World Athletics Heritage Plaque for outstanding contribution to the distance apparently isn’t enough, but a reference to the weather based not on fact but on political rivalry, does make the cut. However, while the notion of Chicago as a ‘windy city’ might be slightly factually misguided, it does point this discussion in the right direction. Chicago’s success is a hard-fought renaissance. And there’s nothing like a friendly rivalry to kick you straight back into action.
When did the Chicago Marathon begin?
The New York City Marathon is one powerful bystander. For London, it was the inspiration, and when it came to Chicago, it was the motivation. Motivation to wake up from its 50 year slumber and hit the ground running again. Literally, what with 4,200 people pounding the streets of Chicago. But there’s more to it than that. In the 1800s it was New York that gave Chicago its ‘windy city’ nickname. And in 1976, it was New York that gave Chicago a vision of what could have been. A big city marathon with soaring success. No one wants to be beaten to it. Certainly not by a rival. And certainly not when you could have had it first, and lost it. The Chicago Marathon as we know it today launched the next year in 1977, but that was far from the beginning of its story.
Early days of the Chicago Marathon
The first annual Chicago Marathon actually took place in 1905, 72 years earlier. The distance had just been introduced to the Olympics at the end of the 19th century and with popularity on the rise, it was the prime moment to strike. Chicago would be a city host to nothing but the best of long distance running. A display for everyone there to enjoy and for everyone else to admire. With participation by the likes of 1904 Olympic silver medallist Albert Corey, it can hardly be called unsuccessful. But while Chicago lived up to its aims, popularity lived up to its name: and it faded.
It wasn’t that the general public were no longer interested in the marathon- far from it. The problem was, the marathon that they enjoyed watching didn’t involve running. By the 1920s Chicago was no longer a champion of distance running, but of dancing instead, with its signature marathons taking place in a ballroom, and not on the streets. Dance marathons had taken the nation by storm, and left its population hanging on tenterhooks. As it turns out, other people’s suffering made for great entertainment. And if you thought cramping legs at 30km was bad, in the ballroom it reached a whole other dimension. One that marathon running simply couldn’t compete with.
Couples would have to stay on their feet, and moving, for days. Weeks even. It may have centred around dancing but for the spectators that was a minor detail. The dancing was just a means to an end. An end which involved exhaustion and participants dropping out in the most dramatic fashion possible. Which is of course where the spectacle came from.
Why did the Chicago Marathon stop?
But dance marathons aren’t the only reason why the Chicago Marathon stopped taking place in the 1920s. They were just a symptom of the cause. The popularity of marathon running wasn’t the only thing declining: America’s economic and social climate had taken a turn for the worse too. And I’m now going to mention something that you probably never would have imagined could be associated with the marathon: prohibition.
Alcohol and the Chicago Marathon have a history. A winning history in fact. Remember Albert Corey, the Olympic silver medallist from earlier? The secret to his success in the 1908 Chicago Marathon was his homeland’s very own speciality: champagne. A drink he had been steadily sipping for the whole 42.195km, right up to his victory. He wasn’t the only one either, and champagne wasn’t the only drink. (Although it was definitely the most sophisticated one). There were runners who relied on whisky, cognac, anything to provide that sudden burst of energy and make the possibility of actually crossing the finish line just that bit bigger. Nowadays we have energy gels, back then they had alcohol. Until they didn’t, of course. Because on the 17th January 1920, the consumption of alcohol was officially banned in the USA, and the prohibition era had begun.
The resurgence of the Chicago Marathon
All of this is to say, it was a combination of factors that led to the early demise of the Chicago Marathon. It’s not just the sudden love for ballroom suffering or the ban of alcohol. It’s what they represent. They’re not causes for celebration, they’re causes for commiseration. They took all the joy, and traded it for pain. At this point in time, the US wasn’t ready to embrace the Chicago Marathon for what is: a celebration. Unapologetically so. And while it does represent a certain element of pain (ask any marathon runner), it’s the joy that takes centre stage. So for the time being, the Chicago Marathon took a break from the limelight. But as we all know, it’s never an easy climb back to the top.
For Chicago, that climb was a long ladder. And each rung, a new sponsor. But the first step is getting on that ladder, and when the Chicago Marathon made its return in 1977, any chance of financial support was out of reach. The only way to build was from the ground up, and founder Lee Flaherty bearing the costs of the first and second edition was just the platform Chicago needed to get its foot on the ladder.
Who sponsors the Chicago Marathon?
By 1979 a sponsor had finally arrived onto the scene, and the Chicago Marathon began its steady rise (for the second time). That was until 1991, when it came to an abrupt halt, or should I say abrupt fall, off that very ladder. It wasn’t as if the marathon hadn’t changed sponsors in the meantime- it had- just with a much smoother, and most importantly quicker, transition. Between the years of 1991 and 1994, the Chicago Marathon was left hanging in the balance with no financial support whatsoever. It wasn’t just the ladder: a chance to raise prize money and be host to even faster performances was also slipping through its fingers.
But don’t forget: even the saying ‘it happens for a reason’, is said for a reason. And the story of the Chicago Marathon is one of them. Looking back with hindsight, it seems like fate. It all started with a meeting on LaSalle Street in 1976, when five founders met to discuss the return of an annual marathon. Then nearly 20 years later in 1994, the sponsor that saved the Chicago Marathon from a 3 year rut, was LaSalle Bank. A partnership that despite a later acquisition, has lasted ever since, in the form of the Bank of America Chicago Marathon.
The home of both marathon world records
Much like its loop course, starting and ending in Grant Park, the Chicago Marathon’s story also came full circle. Its hard work paid off in the highest form, both on and off the course. One of those achievements is engraved on a plaque, the other in the history books. Both marathon world records were set on this course, and while male record holder Kelvin Kiptum is no longer with us, not even the Chicago wind could blow away his legacy.
Written by- Rosana Ercilla
