Chicago Rock n Roll Half Marathon

Day 2 of the Rock n Roll Remix Challenge was the half marathon. The race started earlier than the 5k so woke up really early to get ready. Riding the train down we met a few runners which this was their first half marathon, I remember the feeling since this is my first half 4 years ago.

We arrived at the start early, we walked around, found my corral. I was placed in 23 and I believe there were 32 corrals. There was a Half Fanatics meet up for a picture in front of the Art Institute so we headed over there. On our way there we found Dave and Devona.  There was quite a few fanatics and a few that I recognized that were at the half down in Springfield. We made it back to my corral and my cheerers were able to follow me along to the start.

It took awhile for my corral to get started, once we did we went north and were were on our way. The course was a bit different from last year, they kept us near downtown, the furthest west was to des plaines.  They brought us to the regular spots, state street, Daley center, Lasalle Street and the Board of Trade. By mile 6 it was really getting hot. As usual there were not that many band in the first half of run, but the ones that were out were pretty good.

I saw Rick, Dave and Devona in several spots along the course.  I always like seeing people cheering especially if it’s for me.  This race I really needed it, it was a really draining run with the heat.  When we were going south on Michigan I started getting signs of heat exhaustion, so I slowed down and took a lot of walking breaks. I wished that they had more water stations, I needed it on this run, drinking it and also dousing myself to keep cool. It was pretty tough in the last few miles because it hardly had any shade. After the 11th mile the had the Humana video cheers, I only saw a couple that were for me, I know I missed others because I didn’t see Rick’s.

Once we got closer to the end I saw people putting something around the runners necks, I was thinking are they handing out medals now? But when I got closer it was cooling things from Humana. When I saw the finish line getting closer I booked it to the end. I finished in 3hrs 35min 5sec. I am just glad that I finished without passing out!

Chicago Rock n Roll 5K

I signed up for the Remix Challege again this year and it started with the 5k on Saturday, July 18. It has been a weird summer in Chicago this year. The weather has been cool for the past couple of weeks and today summer definitely came.

The race started at 6:30 and we got there about 5:45. The morning wasn’t too hot yet, but the sun was out and you can tell it was going to get hot. Once I got closer to the start line I saw Dave Mari, so said hello and took a few pictures. The Chicago RnR weekend wouldn’t be complete without running into Dave. Didn’t chat too long because as usual, had to use the facilities.  They placed them a bit away from the start, but there wasn’t a line.

I was placed in corral 5, I believe that they had 12 corrals.  I think they increased the capacity of the runners because there was a lot more people than last year.

The start was at the lakefront path near the Columbia Yacht Club. We ran south.  Once we arrived at the museum campus we took a right and went through the bridge that is under Lake Shore Drive.  From there we ran north through a part of Grant Park and looped around and went back toward the museum campus. At around the 1.5 mark they had the only water station. They should of had one more because by mile 1 it was getting hot. Once we ran back to the museum campus the route went back north towards the finish line.

I finished in 40min and 48sec. At the end we met up with the Tortals whch Dave and Sharon will be also doing the half the next day.  I thought that my new shoes were broken in enough, but I don’t think it is ready for a long run, so I will go back to my previous shoes for tommorow’s half to complete the Remix Challenge.

P

Red White and Boom Half Marathon

In my quest of completing of running the Midwest halfs and eventually the states I found this race and in Minnesota. With it being on the 4th of July we made it a road trip to Rick’s moms and planned a bbq for the family.

The race started at 6:30 in the morning so we left the house early, luckily the day before we scoped out the starting point so we knew where we had to go.  Rick’s sister Sandy and her husband Danny came up for the weekend and joined us for the race.  As usual the line to the bathroom was really long so I decided to wait for the first bathroom stop.

The race started on time.  There wasn’t any corrals, we just lined up at the finish time we expected. We started on Main and went north, then we went over a bridge and ran through a residential area.  Just after the second mile the had the first bathroom and I couldn’t hold it any longer. Unfortunately there was a long line, I lost about 20 min. waiting in line. So by the time I started up again the crowd of runners thinned out.

Then we went over another bridge and turned right on a parkway that went past a golf course. That stretch was pretty nice. The course of was actually nice, but there were a bunch of inclines and it started to get humid. Also there were not that many spectators along the course.  When we crossed a bridge along the northern part of the course we were back to the business district.

When we got closer to the finish I saw Rick and started running towards the finish. The last part of the course was through a cobblestone street so I had to be careful. I saw Sandy and Danny with my sign and I booked it towards the finish line. I finished in 3 hrs 11min 23min. Still not back at my normal pace, but going to try to get at least under 3hrs hopefully for the RnR in a couple of weeks.