Chicago Marathon sets signup date, fees for 2013 race

While the 26.2-mile Chicago Marathon course remains attractively flat for runners and its popularity rises with each year, entry fees will climb for the 2013 race.

Organizers for the 2013 Bank of America Chicago Marathon will open online registration at noon Feb. 19 at www.chicagomarathon.com, and the 36th annual event next fall is expected to hit its maximum of 45,000 runners.

The entry fee into the Oct. 13 race on Columbus Day weekend will be $175 for U.S. participants and $200 for participants outside of the United States. Last year the fee was $150 for U.S. runners and $175 for other runners. Registration will close when the 45,000-participant capacity is reached.

The Chicago Marathon is one of the six World Marathon Majors. An estimated 1.7 million spectators line the Chicago course, which starts and ends at Grant Park as it runs through 29 neighborhoods spanning the city’s North, West, and South Sides. Runners represent more than 160 nonprofit organizations that raise millions of dollars for local, national, and global causes each year, with more than $13.4 million generated in 2011. The race creates $219 million in annual economic impact to the city, according to a report by the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign’s Regional Economics Applications Laboratory.

In advance of the race, a two-day Health & Fitness Expo will be held at McCormick Place Convention Center on Oct. 11-12.

More information on the race, registration, and how to get involved, visit www.chicagomarathon.com.