We had a great time playing at the Chicago Marathon yesterday. The city dropped us an 11-horsepower generator at 7 a.m., and we were powered up and playing streetside by 8:00. A great crowd of spectators formed early and stayed put till the very end.

The first thrills of the day were the wheel-chair athletes blasting through to kick it off. Then the serious race leaders blew through like a wisp of air, gone before we even knew they were there - it was an incredible sight (note, the first 10 finishers were all from Kenya).

And finally, the rest of the 40,000 marathoners came through in groups large and small over the next couple hours, to a constant stream of upbeat Tangleweed at Diversey and Broadway. I have to imagine we got as many waves, smiles, blown kisses, thank-you’s and outright dance-running from the racers of any band on the route. And we really enjoyed the wild run-by-greeting from our friend Jay Stanek from BIG SKY STRING BAND.

I saw several racers interviewed on last night’s TV news, and the consensus among all of them was that the crowd and entertainment along the course made all the difference between a good race and a great race. Even the WINNER OF THE RACE said his morale was greatly boosted by the massive influx of positive energy from the sidewalks. Tangleweed was proud to be a part of this event, and sends big thanks to the organizers for including us.