Episode 28: Race Directors and Abbott World Marathon Majors: Carey Pinkowski of the Bank of America Chicago Marathon and Angela Anderson of the Marine Corps Marathon

Episode 28: Race Directors and Abbott World Marathon Majors is available on most podcast apps: Google, Anchor, Apple and Spotify!

Carey Pinkowski with new female Marathon world record holder Brigid Kosgei

https://www.worldmarathonmajors.com/

With the Bank of America Chicago Marathon since 1990, Executive Race Director Carey Pinkowski has been a key player in building the marathon's dynamic relationships with the city of Chicago, the corporate community and local neighborhoods along the marathon course. In 2006, Pinkowski also became one of the original architects of the Abbott World Marathon Majors, a series set to recognize and challenge the world's top adventurous marathon runners. Carey explains how these marathons must meet stringent guidelines for runner experience/logistics and other marks, and now includes the original 5- Chicago, New York, Boston, London, Berlin, and most recently Tokyo was added to round out the number at six. He tells us about how the Marathon Majors began and why, as well as why sharing "best practices" with races across the globe is so important as a goal of this group, and he highlights the importance of the running community for these cities. He also shares a bit about the changing culture of marathons and the culture of the Abbott World Marathon Majors series, and where he sees it headed in the future.

Carey's page: https://www.facebook.com/CareyRunsChi/
The official Bank of America Chicago Marathon site: https://www.chicagomarathon.com/

Angela Anderson at one of many marathon finishes

The Marine Corps Marathon Deputy Director Angela Anderson has been with MCM since 1994. She oversees the various branches within the MCM organization and develops new projects to enhance the event experience. Originally from Germany, she has participated in the United States Marine Corps' Civilian Leadership Program and Toastmasters International. Anderson discusses her current World Marathon Majors attempt and 1/2 way through has some insight to share about the experience (including Chicago, Boston and most recently NY Marathon). She also tells us about "the Oprah effect" and its impact on women's running since Oprah ran the MCM in 1994, this event ushering in a new era of distance running for women, or at least her reflection as a cultural symbol of new women marathoners.  Lastly, she highlights the work of race organization and logistics of “The People’s Marathon” and reveals exciting things to come!

All the yearlong MCM Events and more that we discussed can be found at: https://www.marinemarathon.com/events

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