New Naperville Marathon to be qualifying race for Boston Marathon - Chicago Sun-Times
"They’ll be running through the streets of West suburban Naperville.
The 2013 inaugural Naperville Marathon is scheduled for next fall on Nov. 10, and will be a qualifying race for the famous Boston Marathon. While Naperville enthusiasts have kicked around the idea for years, Kris Hartner, owner of the Naperville Running Company, said “somebody needed to come forward and take charge.”"
Read the entire article at the link above.
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This is huge news as the Chicago Marathon fills quickly and area runners often travel far to qualify. For those of us in the immediate area (I'm in the next town over), it also means avoiding the trip to Chicago's Loop. That means a better night's rest, and less inconvenience on family and friends who want to watch.
Presumably, there will be fewer runners and thereby less race congestion, meaning a runner will be better able to run his intended pace. In massive races, everyone but the front runners is forced into a bottleneck, often chugging through the first few miles far slower than they should.
A marathon certainly is a long race, and maintaining quality throughout will be a challenge. The people sponsoring it are sharp folks, so they know what they are up.against. Hopefully corporate sponsors will come through.
