Its 4:45 here in Chicago; we've been up since 4 sipping coffee and eating peanut butter on Fox and Obel whole wheat bread. Denise and I have travelled to the Windy City to run the Chicago Half Marathon. Denise has yearned to do this race since she first saw Spirit of the Marathon and the participants running the Chicago Distance Classic.

We met some protagonists of the U.S. running scene a the Expo. Jenny Hatfield is a coach, blogger, and advisor here on active.com. Dane Rauschenberg is an marathoning and ultra-distance author and athlete. Michael Sandrock is a running author, columnist - we first see him when he opens the running movie Showdown.

Well, breakfast has just opened downstairs. Need to go eat a bit more.

One other thing:

On this day, 2500 years ago, a small Greek army face a Persian force 2 to 5 times its size on the plane at Marathon. After a face-off of a couple of days, the Athenians stopped waiting for their Spartan allies and surged forward a hail of projectiles launched by the Persian specialist archers. The heavily armored Greeks met and crushed the Persian troops, routing them in panic back to their boats and swamps.

Phidippides, who had already run to Sparta and back to get aid, will begin his famous run back to Athens to announce the news.

In 21st Century America, we forget that that battle, that moment in time, not only was the inspiration for running's most famous racing distance, the Battle at Marathon made western history possible.