Chicago

The Chicago Marathon means business. That’s how Ben Rosario sees it. Rosario, the head coach of the Northern Arizona Elite training group is sending two athletes to race in Chicago Sunday, and they are all going for the same reason. “People go to run fast,” Rosario said over coffee in Flagstaff, Ariz., where his athletes live and train at 7,000 feet above sea level to maximize their oxygen-rich red blood cell levels. Rosario, of course, was talking about the best marathoners in the country, some of whom are in his training group. But he could have been speaking for many of the thousands of lay runners who will toe the starting line Sunday, and thousands more who plan to run the race in the future. The New York City Marathon has marketed itself as the world’s marathon, bringing in tens of thousands of international runners to the city’s biggest block party. The Boston Marathon has positioned itself as the most prestigious marathon in the world, a Super … [Read more...] about For Speed, Chicago’s Marathon Is Second to None

CHICAGO — During the stretch run leading up to a major marathon, Jordan Hasay could expect to start receiving multiple phone calls per day from her Nike Oregon Project coach, Alberto Salazar, who would guide her through her final days of training. The details of Salazar’s suggestions could be as minor as what color socks Hasay should pack or a reminder to rest as her next 26.2-mile pursuit for a new American record drew closer. But 12 days ago the United States Anti-Doping Agency barred Salazar for four years for doping violations, so Hasay and her Oregon Project teammates scheduled to participate in Sunday’s Chicago Marathon have experienced a wall of silence between them and their now former coach. The situation grew stranger Thursday, when Mark Parker, Nike’s chief executive, announced he had decided to close Salazar’s Oregon Project, saying that continuing to finance and operate the elite training program on Nike’s campus while Salazar appeals … [Read more...] about In Chicago, Salazar’s Runners Stick to a Script

Welcome to the Running newsletter! Every Saturday morning, we email runners with news, advice and some motivation to help you get up and running. Sign up here to get it in your inbox. Dear Readers, Eliud Kipchoge of Kenya has done what a lot of people thought a human could not do: He ran a marathon in under two hours. Early Saturday morning, Kipchoge ran 26.2 miles in 1 hour, 59 minutes, 40 seconds. It’s not an officially recognized world record because it wasn’t a marathon like most of us know. It wasn’t a competition. Everything was engineered to help him break two hours, from the location in Vienna to the flock of pacers who helped him along the way. It’s a dazzling achievement in sports history that may inspire runners in the Chicago Marathon and in future races to push themselves to new levels. If you missed it, you can watch the finish here. You also have two more special opportunities to watch running in the next few days. The Chicago Marathon, a … [Read more...] about Kipchoge’s Inspiring Marathon Run, Just in Time for Chicago

Hubbard Street Dance Chicago has its own particular movement language down pat: It emulates the way Europeans have adapted the textures and rhythms of classic modern-dance vocabulary, but it has combined it with an American aerobicism. It's not unsophisticated, but it's also readily accessible. It has not only a style but even a culture of its own: When the entire company or most of it is onstage together one senses a particular cohesion among the dancers. But as vigorously as they danced all the works on view, it wasn't often that one saw them really fulfill themselves. The company performs two programs during its current season at the Joyce. I saw both last week, and liked the second program better, mostly because it contained Doug Varone's 2006 "The Constant Shift of Pulse," which the company took up this year. Its invincible momentum suited the company, and they danced the work full tilt. Mr. Varone contrasts cyclonic storm fronts and stop-action tableaux. Gales of dancers scatter … [Read more...] about Hubbard Street Dance Chicago’s American Aerobicism

In the latest issue of Vanity Fair, New York mayor Michael Bloomberg noted that his greatest fear is that he might be in City Hall eight years without seeing a subway series. Perhaps the exact opposite fear can be found in network headquarters and Major League Baseball's offices, because while New York's already shut out of the American League playoff picture — and if the Mets bullpen has anything to say about it, New York might be absent from the entire playoffs — there's nevertheless the possibility of two other parochially comfortable outcomes. In Chicago, with both the Cubs and the White Sox comfortably in control of their own destinies and likely to win Central Division titles in their respective leagues, the specter of an all-Chicago World Series looms. Similarly, in Los Angeles, a showdown between the Angels of Anaheim and the Dodgers as dueling champs of the two Wests is becoming all the more possible. At this point, the odds that any one of the four won't make it to … [Read more...] about L.A. or Chicago Could Be Headed Toward Inter-City Showdown