RED Episode 307: Part 2 of Michael Leslie's Chicago and New York City Double

·53 min·3 clips

New York starts with a cannon, Frank Sinatra, and "New York, start spreading the news."

The conversation keeps telling the story of a Chicago and New York City marathon double. It stays rooted in what runners notice once the miles are behind them. Both finishes matter, but they do not land the same way. Central Park carries one kind of weight, while Chicago carries another. The conversation keeps coming back to that difference in a way that feels natural and easy to track. New York’s finisher poncho gets a lot of appreciation. It is fleece-lined, warm, and useful enough that the long walk out of the finish area becomes part of the memory. The image of a crowd of runners shuffling away in those ponchos after the race sticks with you. Chicago’s medal gets a close look too. The word Chicago sits right in the metal, and the ribbon brings in a maroon color with small neighborhood references. New York’s medal brings its own identity through the orange and blue, the Statue of Liberty image, and the borough names around the top. That kind of detail matters here. This is not just hardware talk. It is about how a race keeps living in your head after you cross the line. The conversation compares the two medals directly. The Chicago medal is the preferred one here, mostly because of the detail and the way the design feels tied to the city itself. The New York medal still has a strong look, especially with the borough references and the year stamped on it. The whole conversation stays firmly in runner territory. It cares about finish-line emotion, post-race comfort, and the souvenirs that actually mean something once the crowd clears. It also keeps the tone light enough to enjoy without getting too precious. That balance is part of the show’s charm. It treats marathon memories as both practical and personal. By the end, the episode feels like an easy walk through two major race finishes and the gear, feelings, and small details that stay with you afterward.

As heard by us

A warm comparison of two marathon finishes, with memorable race-day details.

It reads as an easy, side-by-side look at Chicago and New York City marathon finishes, built around the details runners actually carry with them: the Central Park finish, the Chicago finish, the long walk out of the New York finish area, and the gear and medals that come home…

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Why you'd press play

Compare Chicago and New York City through one runner's finish-line story.

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