Carey Pinkowski has served as executive race director for the LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon since 1990, making this his 15th year at the helm of (arguably) the country’s most popular marathon. Pinkowski, who has enough running shoes to start his own retail outlet, no longer runs competitively (a 2:20 time in his one marathon was enough for him), but remains passionate about the sport. Which is good, considering he spends his entire year gearing up for one glorious morning in October. This year, the Marathon will be on Oct. 9.
Q: When did you start running?
I guess running around the bases in Little League was my first taste of running. As I became a runner I liked the individuality of it. In most competitions the coach can call timeout, take you out of the game, call the plays he wants you to run. But when the gun goes off at a cross-country or track meet, you can control your own destiny. You can create your own experience.
How many marathons have you run?
Just one: Chicago in 1983. I’m embarrassed about it, but there it is. I’ve seriously trained for four, and was injured in the buildup for three.
What’s worse: blisters or chafing?
Depends on where the chafing is. But I’ll say chafing anyway.
How much Gatorade do you think is consumed during a Marathon? How much water?
We estimate 75,000 gallons of water and 25,000 gallons of Gatorade.
Do you think long-distance runners are a little bit crazy?
No. But I think most runners-of all levels-are either running towards something or away from something.
Why do you run?
I think it’s more psychological than physiological at this point. I like the escape of it. Four or five days a week I can escape for a little while.
Do you consider yourself “addicted” to it?
No. Absolutely not. I run nowhere near what I used to-13 or 14 times a week, 80 or 90 miles a week. These days, a big week is 25 miles.
What’s your favorite moment of the Chicago Marathon?
For me it’s the start of the race. All year long you work to produce this, and you pull all these pieces together, and here are all these people, from all over the world, every shape and size, who come here to run in an event we’re responsible for. That gathering of people who’ve sacrificed months of their lives for this-that’s my favorite moment.
I understand that in the early days there were frequent changes to the route. Are things pretty settled now?
Yeah. This will be the third year we’ve used the same route, and I think people really respond to the consistency. We’ve seen that with the scheduling as well. Now people know that a certain Sunday in October is “Marathon Sunday,” and they plan for it.
Is Chicago a runner-friendly city?
Yes. There’s power in numbers. You can tell, just from looking around Lake Shore Drive, how many runners there are now.
Do you listen to music while you run?
No, I don’t. I find there’s something hypnotic about running in silence.
What’s your best Marathon memory?
One year on race day, I stopped in at Kitty O’Shea’s for a beer at about 9 p.m. A guy comes in and announces he’d just finished the marathon. So he was out there for, what, 11 hours? What he was doing for 11 hours I have no idea, but he was very excited about it. He wanted to know where the finish line was. I had to tell him it was all packed up. I didn’t have a finisher medal for him so I bought him a pint of Guinness instead.
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jreaves@tribune.com
