What Is the Chicago Marathon?

Daniel Ahasic is an experienced firefighter and paramedic who works at the Aurora Fire Department in Aurora, Illinois. Outside of work, Daniel Ahasic enjoys running and has participated in the Chicago Marathon.

Together with the London, Tokyo, Boston, Berlin, and New York City marathons, the Chicago Marathon completes the list of the six major world marathon races. The 26.2 miles race has been held every October in the city it is named after since 1977, except in 2020 when it was canceled due to Covid-19 and 1987 when the event organizers only held a half marathon race.

Unlike the Boston Marathon, which is considered the most challenging world marathon due to its hilly course, the Chicago Marathon has a largely flat loop course. Runners who participate in the marathon start at Grant Park, Illinois, and then go through 29 of Chicago’s neighborhoods before finishing the race at Grant Park.

Currently, the Chicago Marathon course record is held by women’s marathon runner Brigid Kosgei who ran the race in 2:14:04 in 2019, and men’s marathon runner Dennis Kimetto whose record time of 2:03:45 has been unbroken since 2013. In 2022, the Chicago Marathon will take place on October 9th.