Tag Archives: runners

Distance Running Cubs Fans Write “Love Letter” to Chicago on Foot

By Jen DeSalvo, WLS-AM 890

(CHICAGO) It may have taken the Chicago Cubs 108 years to win the title, but it only took Chicago residents Shan Riggs and Loli Arosemena less than seven hours moving time to honor the team with what could be considered an equally challenging feat.

On Saturday, March 25, Riggs and Arosemena took to the streets of Chicago to run the shape of the Chicago Cubs logo through a variety of north and west side neighborhoods.

Riggs, 38, has been participating in ultramarathon events for about a decade and has completed around 40 ultramarathons ranging in distances from 31 to 200 miles.

“I ran cross country and track in high school,” Riggs said. “Then 10 years ago, I tried an ultramarathon…I’ve been doing ridiculously long runs ever since.”

When Riggs and Arosemena found out in early March that the city they love and reside it would no longer be their home come April due to a business opportunity in Los Angeles, they decided to combine their passions of ultrarunning and the Chicago Cubs for an ultimate “love letter” to the city.

“We wanted to do one last big run as a celebration and ‘thank you’ to our friends and the city of Chicago,” Riggs said. “The Cubs have been a big part of our life here, so we thought it appropriate to use the logo as a template.”

GPS art is popular in the fitness world with the modern innovations of location tracking through electronic devices such as watches and smartphones. According to Wikipedia, GPS art (or GPS drawing) is a “method of drawing that uses Global Positioning System technology (GPS) to create large-scale artwork. It combines art, movement, and technology.”

 

Shan and Loli ran 41.2 miles in 6 hours, 12 minutes to create the Chicago Cubs GPS art.

 

With the help of a friend, Erol Cims, they put together a map which they used as a template for the six-hour, 12-minute long run which allowed the duo to “basically run through every neighborhood on the north side.”

The total distance of the run was just over 41 miles with a few stops on the route to grab photos of local tributes to the 2016 World Series Champion Chicago Cubs.

In July 2015, Riggs and Arosemena even traveled to Panama to run 166 miles in 50 hours to raise awareness and funds for charity.

“I like to push myself and see how far I can go,” Riggs said. “When things get really hard, you definitely find out what you are made of and it makes the everyday things much easier.”

 

 

 

 

On Your Mark…

By Jennifer Keiper, WLS-AM News

More than 40,000 runners are registered for this weekend’s Chicago Marathon. It steps off, in Grant Park, on Sunday morning. Also, more than one million people will watch the runners.

Security has been tightened at marathons, across the country, since the deadly 2013 Boston Marathon bombings. Chicago Bank of America Race Director Carey Pinkowski tells WLS-AM he can talk about *some* procedures…

“Obviously the procedures that we had in place in past years have worked really well. Uh, we’ll see those again this year: The screening to access Grant Park, uh, the clear gear-check bag, ticketed access to the finish-line,” said Pinkowski.

There will also be plenty of uniformed and plainclothes officers on the 26.2 mile route that winds through 29 neighborhoods.

In 2007 runners became sick because it was too hot. Marathon Medical Director, Dr. George Chaimpas, tells ABC7 that it’s expected to be warm on Sunday. “We have increased our event alert system to yellow, the purpose of that is so runners can understand what they might need to do to decrease their pace, change strategy,” said Dr. Chaimpas.

In addition to first responders, the race medical staff will have 2,100 volunteers along the route.

© 89 WLS-AM News