4 minute read
Park Partner: Bank of America Chicago Marathon
PARK PARTNER:
Bank of America Chicago Marathon
WRITTEN BY Susy Schultz
Carey Pinkowski has only run the Bank of America Chicago Marathon once, in 1983. Yet, for the most of the years that the 26.2mile race course has winded through the Windy City Pinkowski has been running all of it.
“I’ve been the Executive Race and Event Director since 1990,” said Pinkowski. “This is my 33rd year.”
Pinkowski, whose titles also include President at Chicago Event Management, Inc., the company that oversees the marathon, has expanded the Chicago Marathon to a world-class event in his tenure.
This is not just any marathon. Of the more than 800 marathons organized globally, only six, including Chicago, have been given the title of World Marathon Major, making it a destination for elite as well as amateur athletes.
But another of Pinkowski’s accomplishments with the race is, while not as flashy as world recognition, something that has changed the world for several of the city’s nonprofits, including the Chicago Parks Foundation.
“In and out of the 1990s, we had always had people running to support different charities,” Pinkowski said. “But they were doing it on their own.
“We saw that people had a real connection. They were doing this not just for themselves but to help others. It added value for them and kept them running.”
There are now 160 charities officially affiliated with the Chicago Marathon. Those charities are given slots in the race, and the organization recruits runners who register for the race through its charity. Some nonprofits have extensive training programs, and some don’t. But all of them require those who run to raise money.
Since 2002, the marathon’s charity program has raised more than $292 million. Last year, Pinkowski said, the fundraising set a record by raising $27.6 million.
“We say about 10,000 of our participants — or about 20 to 25 percent support charities,” Pinkowski said. But it is more than just the money, he said. It is the motivation.
“They start and they are scared to death, and they think, what did I get myself into,” Pinkowski said. But it is that promise to the charities that pushes them on.
“Soon, they find they run six miles, then 10 and then 18, and then, they find they are ready to go.”
“This journey they go on to run the marathon, it changes them, which is amazing,” Pinkowski said. “When you hear their stories, it can be heartbreaking.”
While Pinkowski is in charge, he also knows what it is like to be one man running for the benefit of one nonprofit. He is an accomplished and successful leader who heads a large organization. But he is also a runner, and for the last five years, he has been running in one of the other events he organizes, the Bank of America Shamrock Shuffle.
“Over the past four years, I have raised over $100,000 for various charities,” he said. And one of those is the Chicago Parks Foundation. He is a passionate supporter.
“I think the parks are so important,” Pinkowski said. “They create a sanctuary and a respite for people. And for me personally, as a boy growing up in northwest Indiana, I grew up in the parks, and I trained in the parks. They are such an essential part of our community.
“The Parks Foundation are great advocates that step in and fill in some of the holes and needs for the Park District. We are fortunate to have such magnificent parks and the Parks Foundation.”
Pinkowski has not ruled out running another marathon. Part of the allure for him these days is the idea of running it with his daughter, Sarah, 21, who is a runner. Or maybe, with his son, Matthew, 19, who is not but could be someday.
Running with his children is another way the Chicago Marathon brings people together. But in general, Pinkowski is a booster, as you expect, and he sees the 26.2 miles and the money it raises for charities as an important celebration.
CHICAGO PARKS FOUNDATION
The Chicago Parks Foundation was fortunate to become a Bank of America Chicago Marathon charity partner in the early days of our work. Since then, our Team ChiParks runners and their supporters have raised over $1.5 million in total, the largest annual fundraiser for our organization! Learn more at chicagoparksfoundation. org/marathon.
“If you drill down to the bottom of all this, it is a celebration of humanity and the human spirit,” Pinkowski said. “The partnership is what can happen when we celebrate, and it shows that there is good that comes out of that belief.”
