THE 8TH FLOOR LOFT: Organizing the Chicago Marathon

Early on a Monday morning in July, the sun has begun to rise high over Lake Michigan, forecasting warmer temperatures by mid-day. By 8:00, most runners have abandoned their Lincoln Park jogging paths and returned to Near-North apartments for showers and breakfasts before heading to work. Because it is Monday, other runners sleep in. Mondays, for example, are rest days for those enrolled in the Chicago Area Running Association's 18-week class to prepare for The LaSalle Banks Chicago Marathon.

However, for the staff of Chicago Events Management, the company that organizes the marathon for The LaSalle Banks, there is no rest. By 8:00 AM, the staff is seated around a conference table in an eighth-floor loft office west of the Loop for its usual Monday-morning planning meeting. Nearly every Monday following the completion of one marathon, the staff meets to plan the next one.

The eight staff members present this morning range in age from 23 to 41. Joining them are several of the half dozen college-age interns hired for the summer. The dress of staff members ranges from shorts-and-T-shirts to Banker's-Best, depending on whether they will be wrestling pallets in the warehouse today or meeting with a sponsor. In keeping with the focus of the Chicago Events Management business, race posters decorate the bare brick walls. It may come as a surprise to many Chicagoans that not only does their city's Marathon have a separate office, but that so many people are employed full-time for an event that occupies only a few hours once a year on an October morning. Yet without all the work and planning, those training in Lincoln Park would not have a marathon to race in Chicago--or at least not one that functioned so smoothly.

Tumultuous History

And function smoothly the Chicago Marathon does, despite a somewhat tumultuous history. Begun as the Mayor Daley Marathon in 1977 with the support of local businessman Lee Flaherty, the race suffered a protest in only its second year when local runners complained about a high entry fee and late-morning start. The Daley family, having had its fill of protesters from the previous decade, requested that the late Mayor's name be removed from the title. The event became America's Marathon/Chicago (under the sponsorship of Beatrice Foods) and the Old Style Marathon (under the sponsorship of that beer company) and one year was held only as a half-marathon because of lack of sponsorship.

Chicago runners continued to run their local race, but they didn't always respect it, particularly during the Beatrice years when little attempt was made to involve the local running community, even as volunteers. Despite being billed as "The People's Marathon," it was perceived more as a party event for corporate executives. Race director Bob Bright, a flamboyant promoter in the Don King mold, attracted top runners to Chicago (including Britain's Steve Jones, who set a world record on the course in 1984), but consistently overspent his budgets. After Bright departed, the promoter convinced Loyola University to fund a second marathon in Chicago, but this attempt floundered.

Bright's successor as race director in 1990 was Carey Pinkowski, who had won state championships at Hammond (Indiana) High School before attending Villanova University on a scholarship. Pinkowski inherited a race with a miniscule budget and with little status in the running community compared to prestige marathons in Boston and New York. He began by reconnecting the marathon to its grass roots, reaching out to the Chicago Area Running Association, which had been founded by the protesters of 1978. He visited local clubs, encouraging runners not only to run the race, but to serve as volunteers if they didn't race.

Gradually, the marathon began to grow in participation to the point where 18,000 runners are expected this year. Ownership of the marathon passed from Lee Flaherty to the LaSalle National Bank, which began as race sponsor in 1994 and three years later purchased the event, unique in sports marketing. Unlike with Beatrice, the Bank's involvement proved to be unobtrusive, and the marathon gradually regained the respect of the local running community. Most important, the Bank's support permitted Pinkowski to compete with other events for top athletes. Khalid Kannouchi's 2:07:10 in winning last year's race was the fastest time in the world in 1997, the fourth fastest marathon time ever. No more Second City status among marathons. Runner's World editor Amby Burfoot believes Chicago may now be "the best marathon in the country."

The Alpha Wolf

Race director Carey Pinkowski remains number one in the pecking order at Chicago Events Management, the Alpha wolf, the one who ultimately makes all major decisions, whose name most often appears in the newspapers, whose voice and face are heard and seen on radio and TV, but as at most Monday meetings, he has taken a seat mid-table. Sitting at the head of the table with an agenda containing several dozen items for discussion is Mike Nishi, Pinkowski's right-hand man. Nishi is general manager. He describes his job by saying, "I'm the filter. All things come through me."

In addition to those working out of the Marathon's eighth floor loft office, eight employees at the Bank's main headquarters on LaSalle Street under the direction of Kim Woods, events managing director for the Bank, devote some or all of their time to marathon business. Outside consultants provide services on everything from designing T-shirts to training runners in the CARA program. In the final weeks before the marathon, the number of those working in the eighth-floor loft office doubles as various volunteers become more and more involved. During the week before the race, a separate group of volunteers come to a rented warehouse to stuff the Goody bags that racers receive when they register. With 16,000 in the marathon, 4,000 in the 5-K and 2,000 in the Dominick's Youth Run, that meant more than 20,000 bags, each of which contained nearly 75 items. It took three days to stuff those bags. Asked how many volunteers participated, Demian Vincenty says, "I don't know, but after we were done, I ordered out 200 pizzas!"

The LaSalle Banks Chicago Marathon is a multi-million dollar operation, one whose bills the registration fees collected from runners only begin to pay. Mike Nishi ticks off some of the items on his fingers: "T-shirts, volunteer uniforms, food, equipment, signs, timing services: it's a lot of money." Not just Chicago, but any Big-City marathon might be compared to a bumblebee whose wings are too small to permit it to fly--yet somehow it does. Sponsors sign contracts. Elite athletes are recruited. Goods are delivered. Volunteers appear. Goody bags fly out of the warehouse. 587,000 paper cups appear at aid stations on a Sunday morning. The Marathon happens. There's even a post-race party at the Hard Rock Café that also has to be planned and organized. And all those training miles in Lincoln Park over a long, hot summer do not go wasted.

The Marathon That Works

It's not merely a year-long job, but one that stretches past last year's marathon and ahead of next year's race. "We plan two or three years in advance," says Pinkowski. "Many of the sponsor contracts are at least that long. We establish race dates well in advance, dictated by the availability of hotel rooms and schedules for other events within the city." (The 1999 race will be held on October 24.) Establishing dates understandably requires coordination with hotels and the office of the Mayor, but also with the National Football League, since the Marathon in its closing miles passes Soldier Field, where the Chicago Bears play. Early in its history, the Marathon picked its date subject to whether the Bears would be playing in town or not. As the Marathon has grown in status, its dates more often are set ahead of the NFL schedule, causing that organization to look to the eighth-floor loft when determining when and where the Bears will play. "The NFL has been very cooperative with us on scheduling," says Pinkowski.

So has Mayor Richard M. Daley, who knows that full hotels and restaurants add to Chicago's reputation as "The City That Works." Chicago also is a city that builds. "We've grown and the city has grown around us," notes Pinkowski. "Some of the once-empty neighborhoods we ran through in the past are now booming with new growth." That includes Chicago's Near West Side, the area between the Loop and the United Center, where the Bulls play. Loft buildings that once housed small manufacturing companies are being converted into trendy apartments for those who work in the Loop or work in offices also moving into old lofts. The most visible example of change in Chicago is the new Museum Campus on the lakefront, freshly landscaped with lawns and flowers and walkways connecting the Field Museum, the Shedd Aquarium and the Adler Planetarium. Creating the Campus, however, required rerouting Lake Shore Drive and along with it the marathon course.

Chicago may be unique among marathons in that in 22 years it probably has had 22 different courses. (The Guinness Book of Records has not taken notice yet, although it may by the 25th anniversary in 2001.) The course changes, most of them minor, have been dictated by construction projects and also the necessities of accommodating larger numbers of runners as Chicago's popularity has grown, not merely for its marathon, but for being a destination city. "This year we're shifting the starting line forward to better accommodate an anticipated 20,000 runners," says Pinkowski. "We've also eliminated some turns. Because of the construction, we routed people through the tunnel at McCormick Place last year. Runners worried about tripping. They told us. This year, we'll have lights."

Runner feedback dictates many changes. Two years ago, Pinkowski's wife Sue and her sister trained with the CARA program and ran the marathon. "It was pointed out to me, more than once, that we needed more Port-a-Potties on the course," smiles Pinkowski. He complied, doubling the number the following year.

"Entitlements"

Changes in one area of the Marathon result in changes in other areas, including aid stations, a frequent item on Nishi's agenda most Monday mornings. Chicago has 14 aid stations along its 26-mile-385-yard course, but not all are created equal. The first aid station near 2 miles will see 20,000 runners pass it in ten minutes. At aid stations in the final miles, approximately the same number of runners will take several hours to pass. Volunteers at the first station don't have time to pour water or Gatorade; everything needs to be poured in advance and stacked in layers. "For this, we need to buy stacking plates," says Vincenty. "These are cardboard sheets with a smooth finish so they don't crumble when soaked with water. They have to be ordered months in advance, stored in our warehouse, moved to a staging warehouse the week before the marathon, then transported to the aid station on race day." Volunteers at the final aid station have time to re-pour, so they don't need stacking plates. Instead, they offer Vaseline, Band-Aids and energy foods in addition to liquids. All this requires coordination, including transporting 31,920 gallons of Sparkling Spring Water to each of the stations.

A word not often heard in businesses that are less event-oriented is "entitlements." It might be said that "entitlements" make the wheels of the Marathon spin. Although The LaSalle Banks is the title sponsor of the Marathon, the race has several dozen additional sub-sponsors that provide everything from cash to goods to services. Welch's, Peter Pan and Wonder Bread provide 2,000 sandwiches for the Dominick's Youth Run, for example. Without the involvement of Dominick's, a Chicago food chain, runners wouldn't be handed a banana after crossing the finish line.

"An 'entitlement' is all the benefits of being a sponsor," explains Lisa Cesaretti. An entitlement might be signs on the course, a booth at the Expo, a tent at the finish line, or flyers in the Goody Bags. "All this is determined by contract months, sometimes years, before the event," adds Eileen Andrews. "Without entitlements, we'd all go home early. In fact, we might not even be there."

For the 1998 race, the Marathon will have new mile markers along the course: brightly colored boards 10 feet overhead instead of the previous signs that were street level, thus less visible to runners passing. "Build a better mile marker and the running world will beat a path to your door," quips Nishi. But these new mile markers needed to be designed, constructed and erected, all of which costs time and money. That's the down side; the up side is that the new mile markers offer an opportunity for a new and more visible entitlement.

The Best Expo of Any Race!

Not only must the staff in the eighth-floor loft plan for and organize the Marathon, it must plan for all the events surrounding the Marathon, the most visible being the two-day Humana Health & Fitness Expo culminating in the Saturday-night Carbo Loading Dinner. Nishi is not humble in describing these events: "We've got the best Expo of any race! We've got the best Pasta Party!" Unlike more pedestrian buffet dinners offered at many marathons, Chicago offers a sit-down dinner with real plates and silverware, no plastic. Speakers are engaged to entertain the crowds: Frank Shorter last year, Joan Benoit Samuelson the year before. The International Ballroom at the headquarters Hilton Hotel seats 2,100 people, yet sold out last year by July. The Leukemia Society of America, which brought 900 runners to Chicago, agreed to move its group to the Continental Ballroom on another floor, freeing that number of tickets--which also quickly sold out. For 1998, the Leukemia Society will use the facilities of another hotel, allowing the Marathon to use both ballrooms. Directly or indirectly, the Marathon feeds approximately 4,000 hungry runners.

Pinkowski clearly understands that, while having someone run 2:07:10 on your course signifies to runners that they too might be able to achieve a fast time (whether three hours, four hours, or more), it is the small details that make or break a marathon. One attraction of Chicago is its large number of hotel rooms within walking distance of the start and finish lines. Samuelson commented on this speaking at a clinic at the Expo: "It's a big advantage to leave your hotel room and be standing on the starting line five minutes later."

But Chicago's popularity has caused some of that advantage to erode. Before the 1997 race, the Hilton sold its last room reserved for marathoners in July. Pinkowski negotiated with the hotel to double his block of reduced-rate rooms for 1998; those rooms sold out by February! The Marathon works with 25 hotels, reserving 4,000 rooms at special rates. "Not everybody wants a deluxe suite at the Hilton," says Pinkowski. "Some runners prefer to pay $39 for a room on the edge of the city."

The Marathon office receives 100 phone calls a day, 3-400 a day the last few weeks of the event. Many of the calls are requests for housing; others relate to everything from what replacement fluid will be offered at the aid stations (Gatorade) to whether or not the race will come past their house--and when? "I was working in the office one Sunday and fielded 15 calls," says Pinkowski. "One was from a mother whose daughter's wedding reception was at the Drake Hotel the same day as the Marathon, and she was worried how the guests would get there. With most problems, communications is the key element."

Money Sport

Pinkowski's most visible job, and one that takes him to races around the world, is scouting and recruiting athletes. Road racing is a money sport, and although Pinkowski prefers to spend most of his elite athlete budget on prize money given to those who perform best in the race, he also needs to reward those who have run well in Chicago in the past, enticing them back. Signing Khalid Khannouchi and Marian Sutton after their 1997 victories, thus, was high on his agenda. "We were bidding against New York, Berlin and the Japanese races for Khalid and Marian," says Pinkowski. "But while doing that, we don't want to overlook the needs of the four- and five-hour marathoners." Pinkowski brought his two defending champions through Chicago in mid-summer, not only to give press interviews (to spare them of that duty in the days before the marathon) but also to appear at a luncheon for LaSalle Banks runners. They also ran in Lincoln Park on a Saturday morning with several hundred members of the CARA class training for the marathon. Says class leader Bill Fitzgerald: "Everybody was astounded: first, that Khalid and Marian were willing to run at their slow pace, but that they actually seemed to enjoy doing it."

The Marathon provides funding and logistical support for the class as well for the US Postal Service Pacing Teams, new this. In 1997, Runner's World provided pace leaders, editorial staff members who served as "rabbits" for mid-pack runners hoping to run 3:00, 3:10, 3:20 marathons, all the way through 5:00. The concept proved so popular that Chicago decided to continue this concept, even though Runner's World, as planned, moved to a different race. Also new for 1998 is a reception for visiting race directors and the introduction of the Championship Chip for timing runners. Each one provides one more item for Mike Nishi's agenda at the Monday-morning meetings in the eighth-floor office--but also offer the possibilities of additional entitlements.

Organizing a marathon is a complicated job, one that keeps the staff working out of the eighth-floor loft fully occupied during each of the 12 months between marathons, but the result on race day makes it all worth while. Cesaretti says she enjoys her job, because "so many runners benefit from the Marathon and enjoy participating in it. I like creating something that is so special a part of their lives." Andrews claims she loves the excitement of seeing the fast runners charging across the line at times near two hours, "but I really get choked up when I'm still standing at the finish line two and three hours later watching what seems like a never-ending line of runners struggle to win a medal. Our marathon team works hard and takes such pride in the end result, I truly enjoy working with them."

Copyright © 1998 by Hal Higdon. All rights reserved.