Romeoville Residents Compete in Chicago Marathon

Thousands of runners — from weekend warriors to elite athletes — descended on Chicago on Sunday for the  Bank of America Chicago Marathon. This year’s event drew participants from all over the world and featured historic performances by men’s champion Moses Mosop of Kenya and women’s champion Liliya Shobukhova of Russia.

More than 35,000 participants crossed the finish line in Grant Park, the second largest field in the event's 34-year history.

“Moses and Liliya set the pace for a special day at the 2011 Bank of America Chicago Marathon,” said Carey Pinkowski, Bank of America Chicago Marathon executive race director. “Race day is the pay off for months of hard work for all the participants, as well as planning and coordination between the event, the city and our sponsors, and I am proud to congratulate everyone on a wonderful day of marathon running in Chicago.”

Among those 35,000 participants were 25 Romeoville residents, including Ryan Melling, who was competing in his second Chicago Marathon.

“It started off kind of as a bucket list,” Melling, 31, said of becoming involved in the 26.2-mile event. Now, he said it’s become an outlet for his competitive side.

“The older you get, the harder it is to get teams together,” he said. “It’s one of the only [events] where you can go out there and say you’re competing against world-class athletes.”

Melling, who also plans to compete in Wisconsin’s Madison Marathon next spring, along with the Lake Geneva Marathon, said he prepared for the event with “pretty extensive” training.

“I stay competitive year round,” he said, adding he began training for the Chicago Marathon in July.

Melling, who placed 5,884th overall and clocked a time of just over three hours, fourty-seven minutes, said he logged faster run times during training, but is still happy with his results.

 “You can go in with a perfect plan … [but] you can’t plan for the size of the crowd that’s around you,” he said, adding a lot of factors play into race-day performance. “ … Some days just aren’t your day.

“I’ll definitely take [my time], and it’s something to build on,” Melling said. 

With a high of 80 degrees, the heat was also a factor.

“It’s definitely an adjustment,” Melling said, adding recent chilly weather had him preparing for a much colder marathon.

“For a while, I was trying to think, ‘What am I going to wear to stay warm?,’" he said. Staying cool and keeping hydrated is key when competing in events like the marathon.

“That’s the most important thing, to stay dry, stay hydrated,” he said.  

Melling’s time put him in the No. 2 spot among Romeoville residents. Here’s a roundup of the top 10 Romeoville marathon participants:

For a complete list of Romeoville participants, click here.