Happy post-Chicago Marathon! Today’s Trending News Monday post is dedicated to the 40,000 runners from 120 countries and all 50 states who ran in this year’s Bank of America Chicago Marathon yesterday.
Heightened Security
This was the first major U.S. marathon since the Boston Marathon bombings and security was evident along the 26.2 mile course. New protocols, such as bomb sniffing-dogs, Marathon issue clear gear bags, undercover officers, helicopters and U.S. Marshalls were present to enhance the safety of runners, spectators, volunteers and staff, and security was mostly heightened at the start and finish line. Additionally, friends were prohibited from running along the course with their friends or family members at mile markers, yet that didn’t stop more than 1.6 million spectators who attended the event from cheering on the participants.
Kenyans Finish First
Dennis Kimetto won the men’s race with a record setting unofficial time of 2:03:45 and Rita Jeptoo won the women’s race with an unofficial time of 2:19:59. Geeze, those Kenyans sure do run fast! In fact, the top four male finishers and the top two female finishers were from Kenya.
Admirable Participants
Erns Van Dyk (1:30:37) of South African won the male wheelchair division, and Tatyana McFadden (1:42:35) of Champaign won the female wheelchair division (her third consecutive marathon win).
At 1:30 a.m. Maickel Melamed of Venezuela crossed the finish line. Melamed has Muscular Dystrophy and through his determination, he finished this year’s marathon in 16 hours and 46 minutes. His thoughts about the race are truly inspiring. “If you dream it, make it happen. Your life is the most beautiful thing that can happen to you. So, make the best of it,” Melamed said.
Cover Photo: maxhphoto / Shutterstock.com
Photo Source 1: Eastfrisian via Wikimedia Commons
Photo Source 2: Gr5 via Wikimedia Commons
[author] [author_image timthumb=’on’] https://wpmaster.sjadv.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/Nicole.png [/author_image] [author_info]Nicole Hernandez is the social media manager at SJG. She’s a Chicagoan who graduated from DePaul University with a B.A. in Public Relations & Advertising and minor in Journalism. Nicole is known to her peers as being online all the time – while on her spare time you can find her taking footage on her phone while she’s rocking out at music festivals. She’s also training to be the new water girl at Chicago Bulls games (in her dreams). [/author_info] [/author]