Chicago Marathon

Bank of America

The name Chicago Marathon is the shortcut way of referring to the Bank of America Chicago Marathon. This race is held annually in Chicago, Illinois and ranks as one of the World Marathon Majors. It was formerly called the LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon but was renamed after Bank of America purchased LaSalle Bank. This October 2007 race marks the 30^th anniversary of this annual event. The marathon occurs mostly over a flat course so that the race proceeds at a fast clip, and allows many famous athletes to match their past performances and even exceed them. The Bank of America Chicago Marathon has sponsors to donate prizes. Any runners who might exceed the 6 hour 30 minute time limit are excluded from official time records.

CEO Marathon Challenge

This 2007, the Bank of America Chicago Marathon also featured the first CEO Marathon Challenge. In the latter race, company leaders (such as c-suite executives, company owners, the presidents, and also the CEOS) could participate provided their company had baseline revenue of $5 million (for the male corporate leaders) or $2.5 million (for the female corporate leaders.) However, due to the extreme heat on race day, there was one casualty among the runners while others had to be either hospitalized or given appropriate medical attention. Bank of America denied responsibility for any suffering caused by the 88 degree temperatures that day since other races in other places have also seen their share of downed runners due to extreme temperatures. Patrick Ivuti and Berhane Adere won this 2007 Bank of America Chicago Marathon.