By Ross Forman
They gather at the totem pole at Addison Street along Lake Shore Drive every Tuesday evening and Saturday morning. They're there in the summer when it's hot and humid, or rainy. They're also there in the winter, even if the temperature stands in single digits.
Welcome to Frontrunners/Frontwalkers Chicago, a gay and lesbian group of about 250 that never knows a bad time to trek along the path that borders Lake Michigan. They have twice-a-week 'fun runs' across a five-mile course, another on a three-mile trek, and one for a two-mile walk.
The runs ( or walk ) are always followed by brunch or dinner.
'After running in a Proud To Run race years ago, several members of the Frontrunners thought it'd be fun to run again the following weekend. So, that's what we did … and we've been running together ever since,' said David Reithoffer, the past president of Frontrunners Chicago, which is approaching its 20th anniversary. The group is named in tribute to the 1970s novel by Patricia Nell Warren titled, The Frontrunner. The book told of a track and field star who goes to the Olympics and falls in love with his coach, and was one of the first positive gay love stories.
About 85 percent of the Frontrunners are male, mostly from the North Side of the city. However, runners join in from Schaumburg, Evanston and other nearby suburbs, too. And one male runner travels to town from Northwest Indiana. Plus, there are about 10 other out-of-state, dues-paying members ( $25 annually ) , most who previously lived in the area.
'Twenty years ago, when this club was formed, gays and lesbians didn't have as many opportunities to meet one another,' said Reithoffer, 51, a residential real estate broker who lives in Edgewater. 'Growing up gay or lesbian is a very lonely feeling; you think you're the only one, especially when I was growing up in the 1960s. There was nothing then. I thought I was the only gay man around, along with the effeminate hair dresser down the street. I thought we were the only two in the world, and that was a very frightening feeling. So, groups like the gay and lesbian running club, or the gay and lesbian choir, or the gay and lesbian reading group started forming. The groups give gays and lesbians an avenue to be with people who you feel safe around, and to feel like you belong.'
Reithoffer has been a Frontrunner since 1989, when there were about 75 other members. The membership started picking up in the early-1990s, partially due to The LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon, he said.
Ah, yes, the Chicago Marathon, a glorious 26.2-mile challenge that criss-crosses the city, from Wrigleyville and Lakeview to Little Italy and Pilsen, down to Chinatown and Bronzeville. It will be Sunday, Oct. 9.
'Frontrunners Chicago is a very active club, including volunteering for about six or seven special events, such as, the LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon,' Reithoffer said.
Frontrunners Chicago coordinates a water station at Broadway and Melrose Streets, at the course's eight-mile-mark, where about 25,000 cups of water and 20,000 cups of Gatorade will be distributed.
But this is the Boystown water station, run by a group of gays … so it can't be just another water station.
'One of the most important things about any race is, what's going on up on the curb,' Reithoffer said. 'Well, back in the mid-1990s, when the AIDS Walk started in Chicago, Frontrunners volunteered to do a water station and, spontaneously, some of the young members started doing cheers as if they were cheerleaders. I immediately thought, 'Wow; that would be great for the Marathon, for our water station, so we'd have something other than just pouring water.''
Reithoffer offered David Plotnick, one of the 'cheerleaders,' a $50 budget for him and his friends to do something creative for the Marathon water station. They immediately agreed. Reithoffer suggested wearing colorful skirts and carrying pom-poms, something that would be funny, 'and the runners loved it.'
This weekend, there will be 10 cheerleaders at the Frontrunners water station, and they have a slightly higher budget, Reithoffer said, laughing. So, you can bet the bunch will be charismatic and colorful, at the very least. The Frontrunners water station has been named the Marathon's Best Water Station for the past seven years, which includes a $1,000 prize.
'When we first started the water station, there were hardly any spectators. Now, it's almost a problem, because there are so many spectators that we're just swarmed,' said Reithoffer, Frontrunners president from 1990-'91 and volunteer coordinator for the water station since 1989.
There will be about 250 volunteers at the Frontrunners water station, which is the fifth of 17 along the course, and about half are Frontrunners themselves.
'It's a blast. We have so much fun out there,' said Reithoffer, who also serves as the Marathon's International Coordinator, largely responsible for recruiting runners to Chicago from France. This year, there will be 309 French runners, whereas several years ago, there were none.
