 In the early years the Chicago Marathon was held in August . It has from its inception with 4 @,@ 200 runners and 2 @,@ 128 finishers been one of the nation 's largest marathons . The 2000 running was second only to New York . The 1979 and 1980 events , however , continued to be gatherings of amateur runners . By 1982 , the race finally had sufficient prize money to attract world class athletes . The 1982 was the first with world class times such as the 2 : 10 : 59 by Greg Meyer , the last American @-@ born male to win the race . By 1983 , the Chicago Marathon had achieved its status as one of America 's most important marathons . In 1984 , Beatrice raised the purse to $ 250 @,@ 000 ( $ 50 @,@ 000 more than New York 's ) . The race had become a legitimate rival to New York and continues to vie for top runners . The 1985 race was spectacular with Steve Jones breaking his own course record ( 2 seconds short of the world record ) and Joan Benoit Samuelson the 1984 Olympic Champion , two @-@ time defending Chicago Marathon Champion and Olympic Bronze Medalist , Rosa Mota and the fourth place Olympic finisher and world record setting Ingrid Kristiansen . Benoit set a record that stood nearly a generation . At that time , it was considered the premier marathon in the United States , if not the world . Although 1986 had 40 world @-@ class runners among the 8 @,@ 000 participants the times paled in comparison . Beatrice dropped out as a sponsor in 1987 . Because of this only a half @-@ marathon race was held that year and the marathon was moved to the spring of 1988 and attracted <unk> Brewing Company to sponsor the 1988 Old Style Chicago Marathon . The race resulted in three women who had been passed over for the 1988 Games of the XXIV Olympiad placing in the top positions . In 1991 , <unk> discontinued its sponsorship and both the prize money and performances waned . In 1992 , the race again had no sponsorship , but 1993 brought new sponsor LaSalle Bank . In 1994 , the race became the LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon . In 1996 , LaSalle Bank purchased the Chicago Marathon from Major Events , Inc . , who had purchased the race three years prior from Flaherty . In 1998 , the race began using transponder timing . In 2001 , when Catherine <unk> broke the women 's world record marathon time , both the men 's and women 's then @-@ current world records had been set at the Chicago Marathon . For 2008 , the race was sponsored by Bank of America following the purchase of LaSalle Bank from ABN <unk> to Bank of America , and the new title will be in use . 
