Catching Up With Chicago Marathon Race Dir Carey Pinkowski

The Chicago Marathon will be run this Sunday, the event's first year under new title sponsor Bank of America, and CAREY PINKOWSKI has guided the famous event longer than anyone else in its 31-year existence, serving as Exec Race Dir since '90. Running has always been a staple in Pinkowski's life, and his storied career earned him entrance into the Indiana Athletic HOF. Pinkowski played a pivotal role in the '06 creation of the World Marathon Majors, and recently was entrusted with designing the marathon course for the city of Chicago's bid to host the 2016 Summer Olympics. Fresh off unveiling a new partnership between the Chicago Marathon and the Chicago 2016 bid, Pinkowski stepped aside from the mayhem surrounding the event to chat with Staff Writer Brian Helfrich.

Cubs or White Sox: Big White Sox fan
Favorite sporting event: White Sox game at U.S. Cellular Field
Currently reading: “1776” by DAVID MCCULLOUGH
Last CD you bought: An Abba CD for my wife
Fastest Marathon: 2:20:41

Pinkowski: (Laughs). Somebody asked me today what I did before this and I said I don’t remember. For me, I’m very fortunate because I come from a running background. I ran as a boy in Northern Indiana, ran in college and continued on, so it was a big part of my life. To be able to work on an event that showcases running and marathon running is great. So at this point in time, no, because I really do enjoy it.

Q: What will you be doing in the next few days leading up to Sunday morning?

Pinkowski: Traditionally, this week we are finalizing our operational scheme. There’s finishing touches on the start and finish line, Grant Park, things on the course. We’re updating anything that has to do with the timeline or anything we have to do on the marathon route. It’s bringing closure to a grand plan that is the Bank of America Chicago Marathon. 

Q: Can you expand on the newly formed relationship with the Chicago 2016 bid effort?

Pinkowski: This is our first year with Bank of America, but this is the 31st year for the event, so there’s a rich history that goes back to the 1970s. We’re now sponsored by and working with Bank of America and their Olympic sponsorship and the 2016 efforts, so it really creates some great synergies and complements everything that the city is doing specific to 2016 and what Bank of America does as an Olympic sponsor. There are a lot of athletes in town this weekend that are helping promote 2016, so we have some Olympians running in Sunday’s race (including Romania Gold Medal marathoner CONSTANTINA TOMESCU-DITA). It really is an excellent partnership and opportunity to showcase Chicago’s efforts for the 2016 Olympics. 

Q: Under the new partnership, would you be involved in the organization of the Olympic marathon if Chicago won the bid?

Pinkowski: Early in the bid process, I was asked to work on the design of the course, which we did, and it is very similar to the Chicago Marathon course. Obviously, when you go to live action and planning, all of the bigger process comes together, but it was the intention of the committee to use a course that was similar to our race and captures what Chicago is. They’re very much interested in the traditional Chicago Marathon course -- they’re fascinated with the neighborhoods and energy that goes with the Chicago Marathon. 

Chicago Marathon Adds More Aid Stations In  Attempt To Better Prepare For Hot Temperature

Q: In the wake of the tragedy during last year’s race, what steps did you take to avoid a similar occurrence?

Pinkowski: 2007 was a very, very challenging year. It was the hottest October 7 in Chicago history; it created some challenges for us and we had to make some difficult decisions. But it also created some opportunities for us, too. One of the things we established immediately after last year’s event, with the support of Bank of America and their perspective, was to go back and reach out to last year’s participants, volunteers, police and Chicago fire department, and really evaluate what happened and get some concise information. We did an effective survey with our participants and got some very valuable information in response to heat conditions. 

Q: What did you learn?

Pinkowski: This year, we’ve expanded our aid stations from 15 full aid stations to 20, and from 15 medical stations on course to 21 this year. Our medical personnel has increased, as have our communications. And we improved our event alert system, which we’ll introduce this year. We’ll have groups on the course gathering real-time temperature and humidity readings and relay that back to our medical director on race morning. Each of the aid stations will have a color-coded flag that will indicate what the conditions are and what to expect.

Q: Is there another marathon you admire and try to emulate?

Pinkowski: Sure. I admire the marathons we’re partners with in the World Marathon Majors -- London, Berlin, New York City, Boston. I’ve always had a great deal of admiration for those events, and we have a great friendship and professional interaction. We complement each other, and obviously we’re very competitive in some areas, but the great benefit is having these events where we can compare notes. As we’ve gone further into this relationship, we’ve also realized we have the same challenges, and what’s come out of that has helped both our event and the industry. A couple months ago, the operations crew for the NYC Marathon came to Chicago and spent two days with our group and exchanged ideas, compared schemes and it was a great opportunity. 

Q: Have the World Marathon Majors, formed a couple of years ago, been a success? How high is the ceiling for the series?

Pinkowski: I think it has. With the series, athletes compete for $500,000 in prize money. But where I think it’s been very valuable is with the interaction behind the scenes, the different areas of our events, from the timing to emergency medical to interfacing with police operations. We’re all marathons. We’re alike and different, but I think we complement each other. 

Q: Running obviously requires a pretty sizable commitment, especially with time. Have you found room in your schedule to get out there and run?

Pinkowski: I have to be absolutely honest with you: I live vicariously through my wife now, who has defeated me in the last two 5k’s we’ve run. I still run four days a week, for about 35 minutes in the morning, but the family tradition has been passed on to my wife.