I thoroughly enjoyed the Tribune’s coverage of the 1997 Chicago Marathon, especially the great color photos. But what a disappointment that there was so little tribute given to the individual participants.
For each of the runners, that event was the culmination of months of preparation, typically not less than 40 miles each week, and the setting aside of one day each week for a long training run of 20 miles or more. Completion of the marathon will be considered as one of life’s major achievements by many of the runners, as I think of my own completion of the marathon in 1994 at the age of 64.
So imagine the letdown of all but a few hundred participants (out of a total of more than 16,000 who ran) when their names weren’t even mentioned in the next day’s Tribune sports section.
You say it can’t be done quickly? I was in Minneapolis the day after the Twin Cities Marathon. The next day’s paper had a separate section listing the top 100 male and top 100 female runners, the top 25 runners in each of the age-gender categories and an alphabetical listing of each finisher.
All lists also showed the hometown, age and finishing time of the participants. What a memento that must be to each of those who participated and to their friends.
