The Diary - October 17

The Diary

October 17, 2026

Is the Chicago Marathon really a race? Or is it the biggest possible living Valentine to Chicago?

I spent last weekend in Chicago. Sunday morning, I joined friends to cheer on a family member running his first marathon. He  claimed that it was a bit warm for the run. I wasn’t running, just racing through the city to catch him at different viewing stations, and thought the weather could not be better. The sky was cloudless and blue, just a tad darker than the stripes on the ubiquitous city flag. The early fall light was pure and clean. The skyline popped. The lake stretched out calm and magnificent beyond Lake Shore Drive.

City streets were thronged with spectators cheering the 55,000 runners. While folks were rooting for specific friends and family members, we were all essentially cheering for the same thing—that the runners would finish the race. It was a carnival-- an atmosphere of collective enthusiasm and happiness. There was no “other”, no enemy, no argument—just cheering, laughter and encouragement.

Spectators wore Bear jerseys and Cubs and Sox hats. But folks also sported tee shirts that simply celebrated the city, not the local teams. I saw a woman with the Chicago flag painted on her fingernails. This week my Facebook feed has been filled with videos lavishing praise on the city, the race, and the spectators.  I am still on a high from my visit.

All of this got me wondering what prompts civic love?  Afterall, Chicago has many serious problems, not least among them crime, poverty, poor educational outcomes, questionable governance, and dysfunctional public behavior. Is it simply that Chicago does so many highly visible things so well—architecture, a vibrant Loop, walkable neighborhoods, the lakefront, the riverwalk, culture, food, and public transportation-- that we overlook the faults?  Are we really celebrating the exceptional when we say we love Chicago?

Is our local civic love account in the black? Do people love Peoria?  Are there so many gems here that they outweigh the negatives found in any midsize city?  What events elicit the pride that the marathon does in Chicago?  Wherever they are, I want to chase after them.