The History of SCIS at the Chicago Marathon

SCIS Founder Geoff Kent

Geoff got into wheelchair racing after his injury.  Along with 6 other able-bodied runners, decided to enter the 2008 Chicago Marathon (Learn about the 2008 Team) as an awareness-raising event.  Needless to say, our efforts did in fact raise awareness, and with this, people wanted to donate money to our cause.  Our small group of 7 athletes ended up collecting over $50,000, and we witnessed firsthand what is possible when you combine a good cause with the sweat of marathon training. 13 athletes repeated the successes of 2008, in the 2009 Chicago Marathon (Learn about the 2009 Team) with another $50,000 raised.

After two consecutive years of raising more money per runner than any other enrolled charity, Bank of America has been kind enough to accept us into the 2010 event with the title of an Associated Charity.  With this title comes more publicity and exposure for spinal cord research, and requires more tenacity on our part.  We are focused on making the Chicago Marathon our 2010 annual fundraiser, and despite the economic conditions at hand, we are determined to make it every bit as successful as the previous two races.