Chicago Marathon

The Chicago Marathon, 26.2 miles around the great city of Chicago was a challenge for me this year. As you may have known I ran this back in 2014 and decided to drop my name in the lottery again this year and I got picked. Was I excited to run it? Yes. Was I mentally prepared? Yes. Was I trained enough? No. I knew I was undertrained this year, but I was determined to finish.

Friday we went early to the expo and met up with a friend that came from out of town for the marathon. I was rather impressed with the bib pickup. We had to check in at a desk where they scanned my code and directed me to the numbered desk to go to. Once I got to the desk they had my packet ready. There were a lot of vendors at the expo giving out free stuff, so of course we piled it on! After a few hours at the expo we left with a big bag full of goodies. We grabbed some lunch and headed to the Nike store because the lines at the expo was very long. We purchased some Marathon clothing at the Nike store and they had a special if you spent over $30 in marathon merchandise you can get a free personalized t-shirt. Free? Oh yes I will take it!

Sunday morning I woke up early and went through my usual routine. I was introduced to Race Dots and decided to try them out on the run. These are really strong magnets that you use to keep your bib in place instead of using the safety pins. They worked really well, but it was hard to get the bib placed correctly on my shirt, it kept on looking crooked and it was bugging me. Once I was happy with the placement the dots worked really well.

We took the train down to the start and met up with my friend at entrance 5. The security wasn’t too bad, they checked the bags quickly and we were able to go through without any issues. I rarely use bag check, I decided to use it this time to store a jacket and extra shirt and another pair of shoes. I think I may start bringing a second pair of shoes from now on because after a race all I want to do is to get out of those shoes!

I was placed in corral K, which was the last corral. I made my way to the very front of the corral, because I definitely needed the extra cushion to finish the race before they cut off the support. It took a while for us to start, I did meet a few runners that it was their first marathon and was really nervous. Hopefully the tips and encouragement helped them finish, I remember my first marathon, and I was lucky to have my cousin with me to encourage me and get me pumped before we started. At 8:33 AM I set off on my tour around the city of Chicago.

Rick went to several locations, which was very nice to see him. It is always great to see the spectators cheering along the course, but when you see someone you know and is there cheering for you it makes it so much better. We ran through 29 neighborhoods which includes: New East Side, Streeterville, Magnificent Mile, The Loop, River North, Near North, Old Town, Old Town Triangle, Lakeview East, Park West, Lincoln park, West Loop Gate, West Loop, Greektown, Near West Side, Little Italy, University Village, Illinois Medical District, Pilsen, East Pilsen, Chinatown, Bridegeport, Park Boulevard, Bronzeville, The Gap, south Commons, South Loop, Prairie District and Central Station.

Some of the highlights of my run were running by Lincoln Park Zoo area, the sun was out, the surrounding parks was a great sight. Crossing Belmont and Inner Lake Shore drive I felt good and made me think this is my neighborhood, this is my city! And it really looks beautiful in the morning. I noticed that there were a lot of Filipinos in the race and also spectating, I did take a picture with a woman that was waving the Filipino flag. I saw Mel near the new Marianos and also saw Carla when I entered Old Town. For the first half of the marathon I was feeling good, I kept a steady pace and it allowed me to run further without having any walking breaks, except for the aid stations where I sipped the Gatorade or water and then went off again. It wasn’t until mile 14 that I started losing my momentum and started having a walking break. At this time they routed us out west of the city and we ran past the United Center and then looped back towards the city.

When we turned on Halsted from Jackson they had the big screen where people that have submitted an encouraging note to a runner were displayed. Only one of mine popped up, which was really great. I know that there were others that submitted, but it didn’t show up. I guess since there were a lot of runners they picked only a few. Oh well, it would have been nice to see the comments.

Around Mile 20 that is when I started hurting and my feet and legs were begging me to stop. The last 6.2 miles were a challenge, physically and mentally. Physically I wanted to stop, but mentally it was a tug of war of I got to finish and giving up. I am glad that I listened to the voice of going on, and when I arrived in Chinatown it was the last time I saw Rick until the end, and it was encouraging to see him and telling me to take my time and that he was proud of me. That really helped me to persevere till the end.

I took numerous walking breaks, which I didn’t care, I just wanted to finish this. Once I got on Michigan Ave. I knew that I was very close to the end. Seeing the turn onto Roosevelt Rd was a beautiful sight to see knowing that the finish is just around the corner. Once I saw the Finish sign that gave me the extra energy to push myself to finish the run strong. I finished in 6hrs 32min 37sec. I was happy to get that medal around my neck and the ability to walk and say I finished my third marathon!

It was a challenge, do I regret it? No. Did I have fun? Yes. Will I do it again? Um…ask me in a couple of months! I will not rule out that I will run another marathon, but I definitely will not be doing so in the near future!