Chicago Marathon Alums Train, Compete in Rio

As the games of the 31st Olympiad come to a close, it’s fitting that one of the final events to be contested, the marathon, dates back to the very first Olympic Games.

A test of endurance, and both taxing physically and mentally, all marathons are obviously the same distance, yet, no two marathons are alike.

Head track and field coach at Brigham Young University, Ed Eyestone, is coaching a runner for Sunday’s marathon in Rio. He’s run in two Olympic marathons, numerous Chicago marathons and he works on NBC5’s Bank of America Chicago Marathon coverage.

“We have 22 alumni of the Bank of America Chicago Marathon right here in Rio,” Eyestone said.

For the men competing for a medal on Sunday, Ed doesn’t think there’s much of a difference in preparing for this Olympic race compared to October’s in Chicago.

“The main thing is, prepare yourself as well as you can physically, and then go into the race and execute that plan,” he said.

As for an idea of what it’s like to personally run in Chicago versus the Olympics?

“I set my personal best time there,” Eyestone says, “That’s why we love to run the Bank of America Chicago Marathon.”

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