CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- Among the thousands of runners taking part in the Chicago Marathon in 10 days will be a man who is marking a special milestone.Downtown resident Brendan Cournane has run marathons on all seven continents and in all 50 states. Last Sunday in Berlin, the retired lawyer ran his 99th marathon and on Oct. 13, he hopes to become one of a handful of people known to have run 100 marathons."I thought the best place to do number 100 for a goal would be Chicago because of the number of runners I’ve coached and the friends and family that I have around here," Cournane said.
The Chicago Marathon brings his running full circle and represents the very beginning of the veteran coach's marathon journey — he ran his first marathon in 1985 when the city's marathon was called America’s Marathon/Chicago. He said he has coached more than 10,000 runners from Chicago and around the world since 1995. His four key elements for marathon success are desire, knowledge, conditioning and luck.Cournane said he gets a sense of calm when running and it helps him relieve stress.