Letters: Thanks for the Marathon, Chicago, and we’ll be back

As a suburbanite, I have been guilty of avoiding the city because of all of the negative headlines. We haven’t gone to the Chicago Blues Festival for two years, nor to any of the museums. So when our son told us he was running the Chicago Marathon, I felt great trepidation. He has run the Detroit Marathon twice, since he lives in a suburb there, and we enjoyed seeing him run there.

But we were surprised at how wonderful the experience was in Chicago! The weather cooperating was nice, but the race was run professionally. He had a great running time, and almost beat his personal best. As spectators, we enjoyed following him on an app that allowed us to know exactly where he was. And we were able to cheer him on in three different places, walking 10 miles as we crisscrossed the route.

The Chicago police were omnipresent, and we were glad to smile at them, to thank them for being there. Our only complaint was that there were no toilet facilities for spectators anywhere! The portable toilets were all along the race for the runners, but we had to find restaurants that had bathrooms. In one case, we ducked into Union Station for relief. Please incorporate more toilet facilities for spectators into next year’s plans.

That said, allow me to apologize to the City of Chicago for doubting you. You did a great job with the marathon, and I’ll be back soon!

Fiona Gierzynski, Wheaton

As a resident of the 6^th Congressional District, I am wondering why our representative, Peter Roskam, hasn’t ditched Donald Trump — as Sen. John McCain has. At minimum, why hasn’t Roskam withdrawn his support, as Speaker of the House Paul Ryan has?

Doesn’t Roskam have the backbone to abandon a bigot, a fraud and ill-prepared conman? How many women, Muslins, Mexicans and military families does Donald have to insult to get Roskam’s attention?

Tom Minnerick, Elgin