Volunteering and Mental Health at the 2025 Bank of America Chicago Marathon: Notes from Mile 18
Chicago Marathon 2025: 3 A.M. and a City Full of Coffee and Courage
3 a.m. is early for a Sunday — usually I’m wrapped in blankets, not ambition. It’s that odd hour when someone, somewhere, is making the donuts or boiling bagels. But this Sunday was different. I woke up with a muted kind of excitement to volunteer and witness my first-ever marathon — the 2025 Bank of America Chicago Marathon.
My bib didn’t have a number. Instead, it was a statement: “Psych.” A volunteer badge on a lanyard, and a quiet sense that I was contributing to something bigger than myself.
During the hour-long drive into the city, my excitement grew with every mile — right along with the skyline that always manages to make me feel small and inspired at the same time. Still half-asleep, I wound through downtown streets and the long volunteer check-in line to grab my swag and assignment.
By 3:30, I was surrounded by a crew of equally sleep-deprived but weirdly cheerful humans. We boarded buses that would scatter us across the city — each stop a small cog in a giant, determined machine. Mine? Mile 18. Little Italy.
That’s the place where runners are too far in to quit but not close enough to taste the finish line. The psychological Bermuda Triangle. And I was there, bright-eyed (well, sort of), ready to help keep spirits — and minds — afloat.
Inside the 2025 Bank of America Chicago Marathon: Scale, Spirit, and Community
Though I was there for the emotional side, the scale of this event still blew me away:
Over 53,000 runners were expected to cross the finish line in 2025.
Participants come from more than 100 countries.
The course winds through 29 neighborhoods, passing vibrant communities like Little Italy, Pilsen, Chinatown, and Bronzeville.
It’s famously flat and fast, which means plenty of personal bests.
And behind the scenes? Hundreds (probably thousands) of medical and psych volunteers keeping everything (and everyone) upright.
All that scale makes you feel both tiny and tremendously connected — like one drop in a very caffeinated ocean.
The Magnitude of the Event
This year marks the 47th running of the Chicago Marathon — an iconic test of endurance and spirit. The day is electric. The city hums. The runners? A living river of courage winding through concrete and crowd noise.
I was stationed near Mile 18, inside a medical/psych tent, working alongside an incredible team — doctors, nurses, physical therapists, and massage therapists.
LCSW, PSYCH Team, Mental Health
My Role in the Psych Tent: Sports Psychology Meets Emotional Support
Picture this: a beautiful, sunny day in the city. The sound of gym shoes slapping pavement created a steady rhythm beneath the hum of cheering crowds. Some runners glided by with ease, while others limped, breath ragged, faces streaked with sweat and emotion.
That’s where we came in — the psych volunteers.
My role was to support runners when panic crept in, when they forgot their “why,” or when they hit that invisible emotional wall. I offered words of encouragement and reminders of self-compassion and kindness. Sometimes I helped them slow their breathing; other times, I simply sat beside them, grounding together in silence until their focus returned.
It was a blend of psychological support and medical collaboration — an unspoken partnership between mind and body care. Because at Mile 18, it’s never just the legs that need attention.
Mental Health and Exercise: The Mind–Body Synergy
Exercise is great for your brain — we know this. But marathon running? That’s a masterclass in mental resilience. Endurance training rewires the narrative of strength — it teaches patience, pain tolerance, and the art of staying present when everything in you wants to stop.
And yet, the real work happens in the messy middle — the place where muscles burn, feet protest, and self-doubt whispers terrible things. That’s where mental health care becomes not just helpful, but essential.
The truth: support during the struggle matters more than pep talks before or recovery plans after.
The Therapist’s Perspective: Why Psychological Support Matters in Endurance Events
From a therapy lens, marathons are basically walking (well, running) metaphors for human struggle.
Every runner carries their own emotional load — fear, grief, doubt, self-criticism, the occasional existential dread.
At Mile 18, those emotions come out swinging. That’s why having a psych team in the medical tent is powerful.
We help:
Regulate emotion – grounding, deep breathing, mindful awareness
Validate and normalize – reminding runners they’re not “weak” for struggling
Reframe – breaking down the impossible into the next few steps
Stabilize crisis – calming panic or emotional overload
Sometimes, the difference between quitting and crossing the finish line is one person who says, “You’re not alone. You’re doing great. Just one more mile.”
What I Learned from Volunteering at the Chicago Marathon
We all carry inner races. These runners weren’t just fighting distance — they were confronting their own minds. fear, doubt, grief, determination — it’s all there.
Presence > expertise. You don’t need to be a marathoner to make a difference. Sometimes being calm and kind is the most advanced skill of all.
Mind + body = inseparable. Physical pain can trigger emotional distress — and vice versa. Healing happens in tandem.
Community sustains. The cheers, the signs, the strangers shouting “You got this!” — they carry weight. Collective energy fuels endurance.
Gratitude in motion. Volunteering wasn’t just service; it was therapy. I left humbled, moved, and strangely recharged.
Why I Volunteer: Community, Purpose, and Mental Health
I’m an acts of service person. I like contributing, connecting, and feeling that my time means something. Volunteering helps me manage my own mental health — it gives shape to compassion and keeps me tethered when life gets noisy.
Being part of something so massive and heart-driven reminded me why I do what I do — because healing isn’t a solo sport.
Closing Reflection: Connection Is Everything
By the end of the day, I was beat, my heart was full, and my faith in humanity got a much-needed tune-up.
The Chicago Marathon isn’t just a race. It’s 53,000 personal stories converging into one — each person running their own internal marathon. And on that morning, amid the chaos and cowbells, I remembered:
Connection is everything.
