Giulianos Sweep March Madness

Ray and Jacqui Giuliano of Oakwood Hills, IL, took home the bacon on Sunday at the highly competitive Hillstriders March Madness Half Marathon in northwest suburban Cary. The cultish-hilly race was run in chilly temps, not mot much wind and no snow! Ryan G., 28, won the overall title going away with an outstanding 1:08:57.15. Jacqui G., 26, took the women's title in 1:22:10.44. Nice job to a winning couple! Runner-up on the men's side was Rob Wiley, 37, of Gurnee, in 1:11:55.16, and third place was earned by Jeff Bailey, 28, of Chicago, in 1:14:22.42. Second in the women's field was Tammy Lifka, 42, of Glen Ellyn, in 1:24:06.00. Third went to Wendy Jaehn, 38, of Chicago, in 1:24:40.44. If you look at the results, they're loaded with time tested runners who ran strong races. Congrats to all.

Kaul, Druien Take St. Paddy's Day 5K

It wasn't the nicest day, blah and misty, maybe even sleety, but the times were fast and the field deep on Saturday in Naperville at the St. Paddy's Day 5K. More than 2,200 runners crossed the finish line with Willy Kaul winning the overall title with an impressive 14:56 and Amber Druien capturing the women's crown with a swift 18:12. Kaul 26, of Naperville, beat two top area runners as Kyle Brady, 24, of Naperville, took second in 15:10, and Mike Spain, 23, of Normal, took third in 15:18. All three were under five minutes a mile. Druien, 27, of Naperville, won the women's race handily. Runner-up Lauren Farley, 37, of Aurora, came across with an 18:46, and Karin Glenn, 42, of Naperville, placed third in 19:49. This was the first big race of the season with many more to come, starting with tomorrow's March Madness Half-Marathon in Cary. I've done it many times, but am not running it this year. Good luck and Happy St. Pat's Day to everyone who ran today or running tomorrow.

In or Out? Find Out on March 12

The marathon lottery is complete. Approximately 36,000 people entered with hopes of getting one of the remaining 15,000 spots in the 2013 Bank of America Chicago Marathon. The following is directly from the marathon web site:

From the pool of lottery entrants, 15,000 names will be randomly selected to fill the remaining spots in the 2013 Bank of America Chicago Marathon. All lottery entrants will be notified of their selection status via email on Tuesday, March 12.
If you are selected to register for the 2013 Bank of America Chicago Marathon, you will have until 9 p.m. CST on Thursday, March 14, to complete your official registration and pay the race entry fee. If you do not complete your registration by the deadline it will expire and will not be re-issued.
The information that you submitted upon entering the lottery will be pre-populated into your event registration.

Off and Running, Let the Lottery Begin

You've heard about the lottery that will be used to determine who the final 15,000 people are who get the chance to run the 2013 Bank of America Chicago Marathon this fall. The rest of this post is directly from the marathon web site. If you want to get in, you need to read this either here or on the marathon site. Good luck.

From the Bank of America Chicago Marathon Web Site
Registration for the remaining 15,000 entries into the 2013 Bank of America Chicago Marathon is available through a lottery. The lottery entry period is currently open.
Before entering the lottery, please be advised of the following:
•Each individual is permitted one entry into the lottery
•For the best chance of selection, submit one complete and accurate lottery entry, as incomplete entries, entries with conflicting or misinformation, and duplicate entries will be removed from the system prior to the selection process
•Upon entering the lottery, you will receive an email confirming your entry
•You can also confirm your entry into the lottery by clicking the “Check Your Status” link on the lottery page
•If you are selected, the information that you submit via your lottery entry will be pre-populated into your Chicago Marathon registration form, and cannot be altered in any way or transferred to another individual

Lottery Entry Details
The lottery entry period is currently open, and will close Thursday, March 7, at 9 p.m. CST. There is no cost to enter the lottery, and entries can be submitted at any time during this period. The order and time of entry into the lottery will have no bearing on chances of selection. A confirmation email will be sent upon successful submission of the online lottery entry form.

Lottery Selection Details
From the pool of lottery entrants, 15,000 names will be randomly selected to fill the remaining spots in the 2013 Bank of America Chicago Marathon. Those individuals will be notified via email on Tuesday, March 12. They will have until 9 p.m. on Thursday, March 14, to complete their official registration and they must pay the standard race entry fee. Registrations not completed by the deadline will expire and will not be re-issued.

Registration Requirements
•The 2013 Bank of America Chicago Marathon registration fee is $175 for U.S. participants and $200 for participants outside of the U.S.
•The event has a required maximum net finish time of 6 hours and 30 minutes (h:mm:ss / 6:30:59) •Participants must be 16 years or older on race day, October 13, 2013, to register. Participants 16-17 years of age must have a statement signed by their parent or legal guardian permitting them to participate.
•Sale and/or transfer of race entries/bib numbers is strictly prohibited. All entry fees are non-refundable, and may not be deferred toward a future event.
•Read the Official Event Rules & Guidelines

Registration Confirmation
The registration confirmation link has been updated to accurately reflect the participants who successfully registered for the 2013 Bank of America Chicago Marathon. For those who did not receive a confirmation e-mail upon registering, if your name appears within this searchable database, this serves as official confirmation of a successful entry.
Confirm your registration at chicagomarathon.com/confirmation