Fort2Base

10 Nautical Miles from Fort Sheridan to the Naval Base. The start time was 7:00 so we got up early since it is about 45 minutes to Fort Sheridan from our house. Going that early there was no traffic so we got there in plenty of time.

This is my second time running this, which this course brought us through Illinois’ most impressive, historic and contemporary military command and training centers. This race gave 2 options a 10 NM or 3 NM.  If you are wondering what a Nautical Mile is, they gave us the definition of “is a unit of length that is about one minute of arc of latitude measured along any meridian, or about one minute of arc of longitude at the equator”

With that said, it is longer than 10 miles! So when you see the mile marker for 10, it was nowhere near the end.

The race started exactly at 7:00 in the Fort Sheridan reserve center, which we ran the perimeter road then exited and entered Fort Sheridan, we looped around the circle of the fort then exited at thenorth entrance. From there we followed the running/bike path along Sheridan Road. We stayed along the path until we were at the Naval Base. Rick followed us along the side street and was able to take a lot of pictures. At mile 5 it started to rain, it rains for a bit and then it stopped.

Once we got into the Nabal Base you can see that they had it secured.  The earned us in the beginning that if you don’t have your bib visible they will take you out of the run and won’t let you enter.  From the entrance we ran down a road that brought us to the lakefront. I knew what was coming up, Hero Hill, a very steep hill that doesn’t look too long, but halfway up I had to walk a bit.  They had service people running back and forth encouraging us to run, which really helped.

When we finished that hill there was still a bit more to run, then it started to rain again.  At this point I just wanted to finish.  I finished it in 2hrs 42min 6sec. I got my medal, got some treats and took some pictures.  We then bumped into Dorinda, who completed the 3NM.  We hung out for a bit to see some of the buildings and some of the grounds before we hopped on the shuttle to take us to our car.  This is a favorite race, for the course as well as the really nice medal.

Chicago 10k

The morning of the race the announcer informed us that race level was yellow, because of the dew point and that the humidity was rising, also the forcast predicted rain, which would arrive when we would be in the middle of the course.

The start and finish was in Avery Field in Grant Park. We arrived there early enough to use the facilities and stretch. The course was pretty much the same as last year. Looped around Avery Park, went along the lake side of the museum campus, go past Soldier Field and McCormick Place. We went down to 31st street and then looped back. There were enough hydration stations along the course and had enough volunteers.

Luckily the rain didn’t come and we actually had nice weather, it was overcast it stayed in the low 80’s. Even though I haven’t been training as much as I have last year, I felt good during this race. My time was not as good as last year I finished at 1hr 17min  51min.