Chicago Event Management

Join 12,000 volunteers who help bring the Bank of America Chicago Marathon to life! From distributing bibs and T-shirts at the Abbott Health & Fitness Expo to supporting participants throughout their 26.2-mile journey on race day, the event wouldn’t be possible without our volunteers.

We are excited to announce that CEM has been awarded Gold Organization Certification by the Council for Responsible Sport! The recognition reflects CEM’s ongoing commitment to operating with purpose and embedding social and environmental responsibility across every aspect of its work.

Gold Organization Certification is awarded to organizations that achieve 75 percent or more of the total best practices outlined in CRS’s standards for responsible sport: planning and communications, procurement, resource management, access and equity, community legacy, and innovation and excellence. Thank you to everyone who’s been part of this impact and helped us earn this achievement! ♻️

Last weekend, members of our Operations and Workforce Management teams met with Aid Station Captains for the annual Aid Station Kick-Off Meeting. We enjoyed having time to connect with our Captains in the lead up to the Bank of America Chicago Marathon to ensure that Aid Station operations run smoothly at this year’s event.

CEM’s Antonio and Mary Beth had the great honor of joining Onyx Strategic Partners at this year’s iconic Bud Billiken Parade, the 97th edition of a Chicago tradition that has celebrated Black culture, community and youth for generations. They spent the morning with community, business and civic leaders and got to learn from the people who continue to shape and strengthen Bronzeville. As the Bank of America Chicago Marathon continues to deepen its relationships with the communities along our course, we're grateful for opportunities like this to show up, listen, learn and build together. And congratulations to the Chicago Defender Charities for another successful production of the Bud Billiken Parade!

Thanks to Chicago Fire Boat Tours and Ignite the Spirit, one of our Bank of America Chicago Marathon charity partners, for hosting us Wednesday afternoon for a fun tour on the Chicago River and Lake Michigan! It was a beautiful day to enjoy our beautiful city together.

Our team supported the BTN Big 10K on Saturday, July 11, marking the official kick-off to college football. Congratulations to all the runners and thanks to everyone who helped out!

Chris Koch opened last week's Race Management Program Summit by sharing his inspirational and motivational story of becoming a marathoner despite being born without arms and legs. His keynote set the tone for the rest of the Summit, and we wanted to share that inspiration with all of our CEM friends.

Check out Chris's keynote address here:

2026 Race Management Program Keynote: Chris Koch This is "2026 Race Management Program Keynote: Chris Koch" by Chicago Event Management on Vimeo, the home for high quality videos and the people who love them.

Join us as a volunteer at the 2026 BTN Big10K on Saturday, July 11. All volunteers will receive a t-shirt and will be entered into a raffle to win two tickets to a Northwestern University men’s basketball game. Register by Tuesday, July 7: www.btnbig10k.com/volunteer

Last week, Greg Hipp, CEM’s Senior Director, Operations and Workforce Management, was named a Professional of the Year at the 2026 National Sports Safety and Security (NCS4) Conference and Exhibition. The Professional of the Year Award recognizes those who have demonstrated outstanding leadership in addressing safety and security issues, and in so doing have set an example for others to follow. Greg is dedicated to operational excellence, continually enhancing the operational, safety and security plans that support CEM events while generously sharing leading practices to help strengthen events across the industry.

Congratulations, Greg!

Last week, Mike Nishi traveled to Tromsø, Norway for the 25th World Congress of the Association of International Marathons and Distance Races (AIMS). The congress brought together industry partners from around the world to discuss topics including community impact, innovation, sustainability, governance and continuing to grow participation while creating meaningful experiences for runners. Mike was honored to be reelected to the AIMS Board of Directors and looks forward to continuing to serve the global running community.