Chicago Marathon profile: David Willey

In counting down to the 30th anniversary LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon, race officials are providing 30 inspiring stories leading up to it. Here is one of them:

Former Chicagoan David Willey caught the marathon bug while watching the Chicago races in the 1990s. Now the editor of Runner's World magazine,David will make his first appearance in the Chicago field as he runs for charity at The 30th Anniversary LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon.

David Willey

Age: 39

Occupation: Editor-in-Chief, Runner's World

Hometown: Bethlehem, PA

Previous marathons: 3 - ING New York City Marathon (twice) and the 2007 AT&T Austin Marathon (PR 3:24:59)

Runner story: While training for his first marathon, former Chicago resident, David Willey, attended the infamous 1990 Chicago Marathon, where Martin Pitayo beat Antoni Niemezak by 0.3 seconds. The excitement of this memorable finish and the joy, agony, exhaustion and triumph expressed by the other runners crossing the finish line hooked David on marathons. He has returned to watch Chicago on several occasions and has crossed the finish line of three other marathons, but this year David will make his Chicago debut in the 30th anniversary race.

In conjunction with the race, David will continue the "Run With David" fundraising program he launched in February, which supports cancer-related charities by inviting other runners to make pledges and to "race" David in Chicago.

David will be joined in his fundraising efforts by two breast cancer survivors featured in the October issue: Lacey Sikora (Oak Park), who was diagnosed when she was 10 weeks pregnant and Cathy Canavan (Chicago, Ill.), who ran her way through eight months of treatment will run her eighth LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon this October.

Peter Sagal, host NPR's "Wait Wait -- Don't Tell Me" and featured in Runner's World's May issue, also will be taking part in the "Run with David" program to raise money for the Healthy Schools Campaign. David, Lacey, Cathy and Peter will be carrying Runner's World Run Tracker Phones during the Marathon, to track their progress on-line and in real time at www.runnersworld.com/runwithdavid.

On the Web: runnersworld.com/runwithdavid

Race information: The Chicago Marathon returns on Sunday, Oct. 7, 2007 with 45,000 participants.