A rather chilly 2009 Chicago Marathon is underway.

As many as 45,000 participants from all 50 states and around the world braved sub-freezing temperatures for the city’s 32nd marathon. The runners, handcyclers and wheelchair riders left at 7:30 a.m. for the 26.2-mile jaunt that will take them from Millennium Park north to Wrigley Field, as far west as Damen Avenue, then south near U.S. Cellular Field and up Michigan Avenue to the finish line.

While some elite runners are competing for a chunk of the $450,000 in total prize money, most, like 34-year-old Mark Harry of Aurora, are competing against themselves.

“It’s cold,” said Harry, “but cold is better. Once we get going it should be OK.”

Harry, a lifelong runner participating in his first marathon, battled the cold with layers of disposable clothes: an old sweatshirt and a garbage bag covering his torso and a tattered towel keeping his lower half warm.

“I’m throwing this all away as soon as the race starts,” he said.

He wasn’t alone. Moments before the race began, the starting area more closely resembled the end of a graduation ceremony as disposable clothing like the Harry’s was thrown to the sidelines to be collected and given to charity.

After the runners had left, said one volunteer, “it looked like a wasteland.”

On the men’s side, last year’s race was dominated by Kenyans, with five out of the top six finishers in 2008 hailing from the East African country. Evans Cheruiyot won in ’08, finishing the race in just over two hours.

Russia’s Lidiya Grigoryeva, who won last year’s Chicago Marathon on women’s side, will look to repeat this year.

For one runner, the experience running last year’s Chicago marathon was enough to convince her to return.

“It’s an unbelievable feeling to run past all those spectators,” Melinda Schaller, 24, of Detroit said. “That’s what makes Chicago such an amazing race.”

Jeff Butcher, 44, made the trip from Los Angeles to The Chicago Marathon got under way this morning under cloudy skies, with chilly temperatures, and with thousands of runners turning out to participate.

chicago marathon street closures

The race will cause the closure of several streets downtown and in Chicago’s neighborhoods. So it will be dicey going for any motorists who need to get around that area this morning and early afternoon.

Forty-five thousand runners were expected to participate in the 26.2-mile race. The wheelchair race got started at 7:25 a.m., with the runners started at 7:30 a.m.

Two-time defending champion Kurt Fearnley of Australia won the wheelchair race again, finishing in 1:29.09.

No parking zones along the course will be enforced beginning at 1 a.m. Sunday. Street closures along the route will occur between 7 a.m. and 3 p.m. The roads in Grant Park, however, will be closed longer.run his 13th marathon. Like Harry, he donned garbage bags and disposable warmup pants to keep warm.

“You know, the Long Beach Marathon is today,” said Butcher. “We could be running in 65-degree weather. But we’re happy to be here — wouldn’t have it any other way.”