Chicago's Got Homegrown Talent, Too!
With 32,412 official finishers last year, 12,505 of which were from Illinois, The LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon is still very much a hometown event. And though the front of the pack is a pantheon of the world's best marathoners, Chicago has plenty of homegrown hotshots, including Lake Villa's Jenny Spangler. While Spangler is likely to be battling amongst the elites, you won't have to look too deep into the field to find several other top tier locals.

Naperville's John Weigel, 30, has been a fixture at the Chicago Marathon since graduating from North Central College in 1995 as an NCAA National Champion. Weigel, an Olympic Marathon Trials qualifier in 2000, will be running this race for the fifth time, with his best result being a 2:21:26 effort in 1998.

Weigel is not concerned with eclipsing that mark this year, instead he hopes to go out more conservatively than years past and run his last 13.1 miles faster than the first.

"I'm not in the best shape of my life, but I'm in pretty good shape," said Weigel. "I'm not focused on running my best time, but I think I can run around 2:23."

Dorothy Gach, 32, of Morton Grove, missed qualifying for the Olympic Trials by a matter of seconds last year at Chicago with her 2:48:42 clocking. Gach returns for her fifth consecutive The LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon, motivated to improve upon her time from a year ago.

"I ran as hard as I could last year and ran my best time," said Gach. "Once you get to a certain level it's more difficult to see improvement, but I want to take it to the next level and run faster than last year."

Like Gach, several other locals are hoping the 2004 Chicago Marathon will see improvements on already impressive performances. Jordan Dubow, 26, from Chicago, ran 2:35:22 in adverse conditions at the Green Bay Marathon in May. And though he is working 80-90 hour weeks as a resident at Northwestern Hospital, he manages to find time to train up to 60 miles per week and is capable of running close to 2:30.

Rob Chenoweth, 35, of Chicago, and Mike Cabanski, 37, of Westchester, have been logging consistent 18-20 mile long runs with their Fleet Feet Sports teammates in preparation for the marathon. The two sit second and third, respectively, in the CARA Circuit overall standings.

Chenoweth's goal is to break 2:40, while Cabanski hopes to run around 2:44.

Christen Meyer, 41, of La Grange, will be among the top masters and would like to "finish a little better than last year." Which would be anything under 2:57:40. She has run the this race, "A good eight times," she said, "and I just want to enjoy it. I have never had a bad marathon in Chicago."

Adrien Ricci, 23, of Naperville, ran an impressive 3:02:43 in her debut marathon here last year. She got a jumpstart on her training this year and has been putting in more miles and is prepared for the mental and physical challenges that the marathon brings.

"That race was incredible," she said. "It was by far the most mentally challenging running experience of my life."

No matter where you're from, it's an exhausting 26.2 miles from start to finish. But for local runners, they're efforts are lifted by the support of a raucous home crowd.

"Running in Chicago is like running to a standing ovation," said Lisa Menninger, 39, from La Grange, who set a PR of 2:57:47 in 2003 and will be returning for her eighth straight year. "The spectators really get into it, and because it's home, you hear your name called all along the course by friends and fellow athletes offering support. It just doesn't get any better than that."