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New record set at Chicago Marathon
October 12, 2009 – It was a chilly start but a big finish for the 32nd running of the Bank of America Chicago Marathon on Sunday morning.
2008 Olympic gold medalist Sammy Wanjiru not only won the marathon but broke the course record by one second. The 22-year-old Kenyan claimed $75,000 for winning and $100,000 for breaking the record. His time of 2:05:41 is the fastest marathon time recorded in the U.S. This is Wanjiru’s third big marathon victory. He won Japan’s Fukuoka Marathon in 2007 and the gold medal in the 2008 Beijing Olympic men’s marathon.
(Click on any image to view larger version.)
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(Left) Three runners from Kenya are among the first of 34,792 participants in the Bank of America Chicago Marathon to cross Wacker Drive in front of Marina City at 7:35 a.m.
Left to right: Isaac Macharia (who will finish seventh), an unidentified pacesetter, Wesley Korir (sixth, winner of the Los Angeles Marathon in May), and Benjamin Maiyo (11th).
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First and second banana. Following the elite runners, thousands of other participants, both serious and otherwise, stream past Marina City.
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It was cold (33 degrees when the race started at 7:30 a.m.) but clear. To get to Marina City, runners go north out of Grant Park on Columbus Drive, turn left at Grand Avenue, and soon head south on State Street.
These images were captured by MCO editor Steven Dahlman from the southeast corner of State Street & Wacker Drive.
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33,419 runners officially finished the marathon. An estimated 1.5 million people lined Chicago streets to watch the event.
 Web site: Bank of America Chicago Marathon
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(Above) Architecture writer and Marina City resident Lynn Becker captured this image from the L platform at State & Lake.
(Below) Eric Carlino was on the southeast side of the State Street bridge.
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