Fort 2 Base 10 Nautical Miles

August 28, this is the 3rd time running this and it turned out to be a nice race. The morning started to be hazy, but there was no chance for rain in the forecast. Don’t be fooled with the distance, it is actually 11.5 land miles.  Too bad they didn’t add another 1.6 miles so that I could count it towards my half marathon numbers.

The start was in Fort Sheridan, where the course lead us through the residential neighborhood. Once we exited the fort we followed the trail north, which was a train route that was transformed into a running path when they built the new tracks.

Though the weather was in the 70’s the humidity was quite high. I made sure that I kept myself hydrated and monitored my pace to not over-exert myself. Another worry was that earlier this week during a short run I tripped on an uneven sidewalk which aggravated my plantar fasciitis.  I’ve been icing my foot and today was the first time I ran on it. Luckily it felt OK and it didn’t bother me during the run.

Just before mile 9 we entered the Great Lakes Naval Base.  We ran around the base for the rest of the run, which included the infamous Hero Hill.  The route was changed inside the base than what it was last year and the hill was a different one, although it was just as steep as the other one. I felt bad for this one guy that didn’t realize that the mileage was different, when we passed mile 10 he asked where was the finish.  When I told him one and a half miles left he didn’t look too happy.

I finished the race in 2hrs 39min 42sec. We hung around the grounds, looked at the merchandise, had some ice cream and listened to the Navy band, which they were really good.  This is one of the races that I like to participate in, so don’t be surprised to see another blog about this race this time next year.