Mondays with Mike: The long run

In Chicago, summer brings an avalanche of stuff to do—all around the city there are neighborhood street fests, music fests, concerts, food fairs. This year downtown rocked with Lollapalooza (an annual event), Taylor Swift, Beyonce, Ed Sheeran, and a NASCAR race. it’s like drinking from a fire hose. But it doesn’t shut off on Labor Day, and every year, a sort of ceremonial end to crazy fun season is marked by the Chicago Marathon.

I grouse about the bigger events like Lolla and NASCAR because they shut down big parts of Grant Park and nearby streets. Still, they do make for great people watching, and I’ve made peace with it all. But the Marathon I don’t just tolerate—I’ve come to look forward to it each year.

For a weekend a bunch of fit, eager people are out and about, staying at local hotels and spending money all over the place. There is a palpable excitement in the air, and something else—just a bunch of goodwill.

Usually Beth and I know someone running it, and it’s fun to stake out a spot to cheer them on for the brief moments as they stride by. Not this year, but it didn’t stop us from strolling down to Michigan and Roosevelt, very near the finish. Beth brings noisemakers, and when a group shouts the name of their runner, she joins in the chorus.

I ran a half-marathon once. When I was training for that Beth told her mother what I was doing. And Flo, the practical, down-to-earth person she was, asked, incredulously, “What do you win?” Back then I needed to lose weight after quitting smoking and re-discovering junk food of all stripes, and training helped me do that.

But these days, I’m totally in solidarity with the “What do you win” thing. The challenge, the satisfaction of meeting it—nah, not for me.

But I’m really glad that it was for the 48,000 runners yesterday, and I look forward to next year’s event.