Shamrock Shuffle

April 3, 2016

The Shamrock Shuffle was scheduled the same weekend as the Lincoln Presidential Half, so it was a busy weekend for me for running. As mentioned in last year’s post regarding the Shuffle, this is the very first run that I signed up for, so as long as I am able I will run this one. This 8K has been known for the kickoff for spring and the running season.

I was placed in Corral F, which was part of the second wave, so I didn’t have to get to the start early, which our kick off was at 9:00 and the corrals closed at 8:45. I dressed warmly from experiencing the cold weather in Springfield. It was projected to reach into the 60’s in Chicago, but the morning temps were sticking around the 40’s. So I was glad that I wore layers.

They let the first wave at 8:30 right after they had the national anthem. They closed the first wave corrals earlier so we were seeing a lot of people from the first wave try to get into corral E. This is the first time that I saw a lot of pushy and rude participants towards the volunteers. There were quite a few people trying to sneak into an E with bibs for F‐H. Once they closed wave 2 corrals, then the people started getting pushy and angry because they couldn’t get into the corral that they were placed. We all knew when the corrals were going to close, you should be prepared to arrive there in plenty of time, or else abide by the consequences…starting at the last open corral.

It was really cold waiting for our corral to start; once we did I was glad to get moving. With the cold wind it was hard for me to catch my breath, so for the first mile and half it was a challenge to get started. Also my left knee started cramping up, but once I loosened it up it felt better. Despite it being cold, I am glad that the wind didn’t pick up. There were some spots where there was wind but it didn’t last long.

The highlights from this race is running through the loop, which consisted of State street, I always like seeing the Chicago Theater, the Financial District and running down towards Harrison then heading back east. Once we hit Michigan Ave we went south and that was the indication that we were almost done. Turning left on Roosevelt and going over the bridge and turning left on Columbus and then from there the Finish is in sight.

I finished the run in 1hr 1min 48sec, a bit better than last year and my pace was a bit faster than the Lincoln half the previous day. I did enjoy this run, despite the cold weather. I could tell that I need to train more for the challenges coming up this year which entails back to back runs in one weekend!