Chicago Marathon 2012 registration expects to fill soon

Thought about running the Bank of America Chicago Marathon on October 7? Debated between this 26.2 miler and another one—say Twin Cities, Detroit or putting it all on the line by entering the ING NYC Marathon lottery? If you haven’t pulled the trigger, as some have called it, yet, you’re going to have to hurry up and decide. And even then, you might be too late.

The 35th annual Chicago Marathon opened its registration at 12 p.m. on Wednesday, February 1. Before the day was out, the race announced it had surpassed its first-day registration total from 2011—when the race filled its 45,000-runner field in 31 days. The next morning, rumors started circulating that the race would sell out soon and warned to register soon. Fast forward to this morning and what do I find in my inbox? An email from the marathon announcing that more than 30,000 runners had already handed over $150 ($175 for international runners) to solidify their general entry, also known as the buy-now-drop-out-later option, into the October 7 race. If that’s not enough to convince you to register sooner rather than later, then maybe 2012 isn’t your year to run Chicago or maybe it’s your year to run with a charity team, which tend to have entries remaining after registration closes.

And while you’re at it, you may as well add the Shamrock Shuffle to your list. It’s a good season opener—even though it’s crowded as all get-out—but you do get a rare sampling of the marathon course (the start and finish are the same as are some of the city streets you’ll travel), a Nike Dri-Fit tee, and only five miles of pain as opposed to 26.2. It’ll be a race to see which one closes first—and when. Where would you put your money?