You ARE aware that the Chicago course has changed in the last 40 years, aren't you?
How? It looks exactly like the course Jonsey ran. 1. A northern loop. 2. A western loop. 3. A southern loop, then north to the finish.
What do I have wrong?
Plenty. I posted this once and you ignored it because you're an unimaginable troll. It's changed multiple times. This was published in 2007 over 20 years after the course was certified in 1985. And it's changed several more times since 2007.
"The first Chicago Marathon was run in 1977, but the first appearance of the course on the certified course list is in 1985. At that time the race started in the Loop near the Daley Center and finished on Cannon Drive in Lincoln Park, north of Fullerton but south of the current 10 kilometer mark. One of the unique features of the course was the dual start, which started groups of runners on opposite sides of the Daley Center and reunited them a mile north of the start. The courses for the rest of the decade changed slightly, generally to accommodate construction, but maintained the same theme. They would start going north, then turn south past the Magnificent Mile, the Loop and Soldier Field as far south as 35th Street, then head west, make their way back north through Chicago’s neighborhoods as far north as Montrose, then head south to the finish in Lincoln Park. From the race’s inception, there was an effort to have the course run though as many as the city’s ethinic neighborhoods as possible, and that theme continues to this day.
Between a change in city administrations and sponsorship difficulties for the race, the course changed significantly in 1990. It still started by the Daley Center and initially headed north, but then turned south through the city to 31st Street. Just past the 20 kilometer mark it entered two of the southbound lanes of Lake Shore Drive and followed them north past Belmont, where it turned around and followed the other two lanes south to Grant Park, Columbus Drive, and the finish. 1990 was the first year the race finished in Grant Park. Approximately half of this course was on Lake Shore Drive. The route changed slightly over the next three years, usually to bypass construction on the route, but the long out and back stretch on Lake Shore drive was the trademark of this iteration of the course.
In 1994, the sponsorship of LaSalle Bank was in place, and the course went through its next iteration. The start was moved to Columbus Drive in Grant Park, placing the start and finish in approximately the same place for the first time. The new course went further north and further west than it had before, and the end result was when it entered Lake Shore Drive at 31st Street, it was at approximately the 34 kilometer mark. A couple of out and back sections on Lake Shore Drive brought the runners to a Grant Park finish, south of the start on Columbus Drive.
The race course evolved further in 1995, and began to look much more like the course the race still follows. For the first time in a number of years, the course headed north from the start through Lincoln Park and as far in that direction as Belmont, then it turned about to go south to the Loop, west through the neighborhoods, and finally onto Lake Shore Drive at 39th street, before following the Drive north to a Grant Park finish. The course underwent minor changes in 1996; that mostly just removed superfluous turns in an effort to make it easier to run.
In 1997 the course was largely off the express lanes of Lake Shore drive south of Soldier Field, it followed access roads underneath McCormick Place East, and did so with minor changes for the next few years. The 1998 course introduced the part of the route that takes runners into the Loop in the early stages of the race before heading back north; other changes separated the start and finish to accommodate the growing size and stature of the event.
In 2001, the reconstruction of Wacker Drive forced the course to detour in its middle stages, and in 2002 the reconstruction of the 31st Street bridge over South Lake Shore Drive kept the latter stages of the course west of Lake Shore Drive.
The stretches under McCormick Place late in the race were less than conducive to satellite transmissions for television, so the 2003 route incorporated some changes. First, the course proceeded one half mile north of Belmont to Addison, sending it back south through an area that had traditionally supported the event with great enthusiasm. Secondly, the latter stages of the race were moved to South Michigan Avenue in a rapidly redeveloping area south of the Loop. For the first time, the race did not include sections on the express lanes of Lake Shore Drive. This course was used for the 2003, 2004, and 2005 events.
Each year the city of Chicago changes. The course of the marathon changes with it. Sometimes those changes are dictated by the temporary unavailability of portions of the course. Sometime they’re the result of the availability an attractive new area or venue. Executive Race Director Carey Pinkowski and his staff continue to look for opportunities to improve the course, and you can expect the course to evolve along with its host city. That’s one of the contributing factors making this a world-class event in a world-class city."
Anyone know the background story for the new Nike singlets everyone wore today?
Pretty “complex” in terms of design, especially for a Nike singlet. I wonder if the super over the top/complicated design is Nike’s effort to deter the counterfeit singlets which are everywhere nowadays. Much harder to fake a singlet like that.
Looked to be a Chicago Marathon specific singlet, featuring a number of Chicago-themed motifs.
I don't think deterring counterfeit products had anything to do with it.