Back on May 26, 27,000 runners came together in Grant Park to celebrate the 40th year of the J.P. Morgan Chase Corporate Challenge(and the 35th running of the Chicago race). The event is sold as a race distamce so simple that even high-level corporate executives can find time to train for it. And at just 3.5 Miles, it is certainly manageable. Starting out close to the historic Buckingham Fountain, the runners pounded the pavement north on Columbus. Then right before reaching the river, the course goes in to a loop on Wacker Drive. After getting back to Columbus, the course finishes out in the open right next to Buckingham Fountain.
Owing to its ease of entry, runners of all occupations finished, from employees of the Shedd Aquarium, to the second place female finisher-a Deloitte employee named Delilah DiCrescenzo. If that name sounds vaguely familiar to you, it should. Way back in 2004, DiCrescenzo met a singer named Tom Higgenson through a mutual friend. As a result of that meeting, he was inspired to write and record a song about her. Two years later, Higgenson's group(Plain White Ts) released the song as a part of their third album. They titled it Hey There Delilah. The song achieved more than its fair share of success, steadily building on the charts until it finally peaked at #1 on the Hot 100 in July 2007. But that isn't where our saga ends. The next year was an Olympic year. DiCrescenzo(who if you'll recall, is a runner) was competing in the U.S. Olympic trials. That, coupled with the lingering popularity of the song, led folks to put two and two together. Eventually everyone realzied that Delilah was THE Delilah. This led to some increased recognition, as well as DiCrescenzo attending the 2008 Grammys as Higgenson's date. Since then, both DiCrescenzo and Higgenson have had continued success in their chosen endeavors.
