Carey Pinkowski is the longest serving race director of a World Marathon Major race, having taken the helm at the Bank of America Chicago Marathon way back in 1990. Before that, he was an elite runner with personal bests ranging from 4:01 in the mile to 2:20:43 in the marathon.

This year's Chicago is just three weeks away on Sunday, October 13. As always it will feature a big and star-studded field of runners.

In his three-plus decades with the Chicago Marathon, Pinkowski has become known for putting on a super-fast race for elite competitors, and a super-efficient race for midpackers.

Last year, Kelvin Kiptum set the marathon world record in Chicago, running 2:00:35 . He covered the second half of the distance in an astounding 59:47 .

This year's Chicago is expected to host more than 50,000 starters--the most ever. They come for the big city vibe, the fast tour of many neighborhoods, and the easy-accessibility of Chicago's loop course with a start and finish in Grant Park on the lakefront.   

In this podcast, Pinkowski reflects on:

# What he learned in his early years on the job

# Some of the best--and most challenging--years of the Chicago Marathon

# What runners like best about coming to Chicago and running the urban marathon

# Why Chicago has pacers vs other Major Marathons that don't

# What he learned from watching Kelvin Kiptum's world-record last year

# How he learned about Kiptum's death, and his immediate reactions

# And much more

You can follow updates from the Bank of America Chicago Marathon on Twitter and Instagram.

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