Chicago Marathon

About a month ago, on the 7th of October (2012), there was the Chicago Marathon.  The event was a remarkable one for various reasons.  First of all I was impressed by the number of participants, around 45,000.  Coming from a town of around 10,000, and a nation of less than half a million, I’m obviously impressed.  Especially when you consider that all the participants have family and friends who support them, so the number of people connected to the marathon is over a million.  It is obviously a headache to organize such an event and have everything run smoothly.  It also means that the city of Chicago is paralysed during the event with a number of major thoroughfares closed.  Still what impressed me most, was the atmosphere that descends on the city throughout the marathon. 

For a while, 26 miles of streets in the core of Chicago become pedestrianised.  The city suddenly becomes far less noisy and an atmosphere of serenity pervades throughout.  Chicagoans and others line the streets from where the marathon passes and cheer friends and strangers on their journey to the finish line.  Everyone becomes like one family for a few hours, and everyone encourages the participants to go on, to persevere, not to surrender.  And then, when finally the participants start finishing the marathon a sense of joy and elation floods the city.  I was just an observer, but I couldn’t not be carried away by all these feelings, and felt part of it all.  I cannot explain what it was really, but it was indeed a nice experience.

Strange fact

One strange thing which I saw, was this pile of clothes.  I don’t really know how it ended up there, and what was the reason behind it.  But it was strange to see all those clothes thrown away, and people going through them, finding something which might be their size and is in good condition.  I must admit that I didn’t expect to find this sort of thing here in America.