THE LASALLE BANK CHICAGO MARATHON DISCONTINUES SUNDAY 5 K
Enhanced Saturday International Fun Run Instead
     In an effort to continue offering the kind of top quality service and
 efficiency for which it is known by its participants, The LaSalle Bank
 Chicago Marathon announced the suspension of the Sunday 5K race that had
 accompanied the Marathon since 1990.  Staged from the same start/finish
 area as the Marathon, the 5K race attracted 5,000 runners in 1999 and began
 just 10 minutes after 29, 256 marathoners cleared the starting mats,
 creating a heavy demand on the resources of the event staff.  With 35,000
 athletes expected to run the Marathon this coming fall on October 22, 2000,
 a decision was made to focus strictly on the 26.2-miler on Sunday morning.
    "We have experienced explosive growth over the last five years, almost
 tripling in size from 1996 when we had 10,021 participants to last year's
 record number," pointed out Carey Pinkowski, the Executive Race Director of
 The LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon.  "Feedback from the runners tells us
 that growth is due in large part to the terrific organization and       
 efficiency of our race operations from start to finish.  In order to keep
 providing that kind of positive experience and to remain the ONLY major
 marathon without a cap on participants, our solution was to split up the
 two races.  It really had become a logistical high-wire act to concurrently
 stage the 5K and Marathon on the same day."
    The Chicago Marathon will, however, offer another option to runners,
 their friends and families on Saturday of Race Weekend through an enhanced
 American Airlines International Fun Run.  "We're excited to take an already
 popular event like the Fun Run and make it even better," said Carole
 Cirignani, Manger of Sales, Promotions and Community Relations for American
 Airlines.  "Among other things, we're going to put the start and finish
 area in The Museum Campus rather than Grant Park to give runners a
 different look from Sunday and more opportunity to view Chicago's beautiful
 lakefront.  We're going to make it a measured 5K instead of an unofficial
 3-miler and we'll add clocks on the course.  And, since we know the runners
 will be hungry when they finish the route, we're promising an upgrade to
 the food and hospitality from previous years."
   As in past years, elite athletes participating in the Chicago Marathon
 will join in the festivities for the shorter race, serving as official
 starters and then meeting and greeting the runners as they finish the 5K.
  Participants may also walk the course rather than run it, however, baby
 joggers, in-line skates, bicycles and other non-official wheeled vehicles
 will not be allowed on the course.
   Athletes can register for the Fun Run in any of three different ways;
 mail, e-mail or in person on Race Weekend.  Mail applications, postmarked
 in the U.S. no later than September 22 one month before the race, will cost
 $15.00 (international deadline is September 15).  E-mail registration will
 be accepted at www.chicagomarathon.com until October 1 and also cost
 $15.00.  Runners may also choose to sign up Race Weekend for $20.00 either
 at the Health & Fitness Expo on Friday or at the starting area at the Race
 itself on Saturday, October 21.  However, marathon runners will not be
 allowed to sign up for the Sunday race on Race Weekend, a notable change
 from previous years.
    The 2000 LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon begins Sunday, Oct. 22, 2000,
 at 7:30 a.m., starting and finishing in Chicago's Grant Park.  For more
 information visit www.chicagomarathon.com or call 312/904-9800 or 
 888/243-3344 toll-free.