Chicago Goes to New York

The Windy City's marquee race wasn't even a month ago, but Chicagoans who were either shut out of running on 10-10-10 in their hometown or wanted to run a fall 26.2 miler in a different state and on a different famed course took to the streets of New York City and its five boroughs on Sunday. Marking its 41st running--the first NYC Marathon was run in 1970 and cost $1--the Big Apple's fall classic didn't disappoint especially for any runner seeking cooler running temps, a lively crowd and a star-studded field.

The Land of Lincoln wasn't short of representation at this infamous race, and 511 finishers claimed Illinois as their state of residence among the results. And being that I'm located in the Land of Lincoln and tend to follow its runners (call me a race stalker since I recognize some of their names from Chicago races), I couldn't help but check the New York reports. And share a few of those race stories.

Take Dr. Brooke Jackson, a Chicagoan who was featured on banners across the city as part of the 10-10-10: The Date to Motivate campaign for the 33rd Bank of America Chicago Marathon, and her husband James Lackland. Both ran on Sunday with Jackson rectifying her Chicago experience across the streets of New York and bettering her time by 30 minutes.

Or Irina Reutovich who left New York with some bling--the 60-year-old Russian (according to race results) took third place in her age group with a 3:44:57.

Brian Grudowski can call himself the fastest Illinois male NYC Marathon finisher, running a 2:29:20 to finish 43rd overall. Meanwhile Elena Shemyakina, 51, claims the honor for the women, finishing third in her age group with a 3:08:49.

Tatyana McFadden races out of the University of Ilinois but she's among the wheeling leaders, not the running ones. And this year, she was the fastest wheelchair racer among the women, covering the course in 2:02:22. This wasn't the first time McFadden could claim victory...she won the 2009 Chicago Marathon and finished third in 2010.

At first I thought Matthew Ancona had a bad day out there, feeling the effects of racing the Ironman World Championship last month to turn in a 3:55 race. You'll usually find his name at the top of the race results--he won the Magellan Spring Half Marathon in Chicago back in May--not in the middle. But not so, at least if past NYC Marathons are any indication. In 2009, Ancona paced the four-hour group (the picture at left was snagged from Facebook), and my instinct tells me that he probably returned to do it again. How could you not want to run in New York for fun?

But not everyone had a good day out there. I really can't say who--as I pointed fingers at myself last month in Chicago--yet it's bound to happen over the course of 26.2 miles and 40,000-some runners. Does it really matter though? Sometimes it's all about crossing the finish line or helping someone else reach their time goal.

For more results from the 2010 New York City Marathon and to search for your friends and family running, click here. Do you have a race day story to share or a blog where you posted a race report? I'd love to read it!

Photo grabbed from puddy_uk at flickr.