Trail closed

Beautiful day for a run.  Fresh snow. 

Who knew traffic barricades could float?

Chicago Marathon 2011 recap

Exerpt from official press release:

The 34th running of the Bank of America Chicago Marathon witnessed historic performances by men’s champion Moses Mosop of Kenya and women’s champion Liliya Shobukhova of Russia as 35,755 participants crossed the finish line. “Moses and Liliya set the pace for a special day at the 2011 Bank of America Chicago Marathon,” said Carey Pinkowski, Bank of America Chicago Marathon Executive Race Director.

Mosop followed up his debut marathon performance in Boston this year with a record-breaking victory in Chicago. Mosop’s race in Boston was the fastest time ever clocked by a debut marathoner, and here in Chicago he broke the course record by four seconds, setting a new mark at 2:05:37. With her performance, Shobukhova set a new Russian record and also became the first runner in Chicago Marathon history to win three consecutive titles. On top of that, she had clinched her second consecutive World Marathon Majors title even before the gun went off, guaranteeing her the $500,000 grand prize.

By the numbers:

• 45,000 - Marathon registrants
• 1.7 Million - Estimated on-course spectators
• 50 - U.S. States represented
• 106 - Countries represented
• 12,000+ - Total volunteers
• 125,000 - Health & Fitness Expo attendees
• 58,420 - Gallons of water
• 64,000 – Bananas
• 31,850 - Pounds of food donated to the Greater Chicago Food Depository