Soldier Field 10 Mile

This run has been a favorite since I first ran it in 2013.  Finishing on the 50 yard line and your medal being awarded by an active military officer is just a couple of the draws that bring me back to run this one.  This year my friend Jo joined me in running this 10 miler, so that made it even better.

The morning started really early.  In the past there is usually a long line to get into the parking structure, but this year there was no lines at all, we parked fairly quickly and ended up with more than enough time to get to the start.

This year they had us start and finish inside Soldier Filed.  Jo and I were placed in Corral G, which was the last corral of the first wave.  In the beginning they had a ceremony which included the presentation of the colors of our Flag, announcement of those who have fallen in the past year, a gun salute and taps.  After a few announcements they had the national anthem and released the corrals.

They released the corrals quickly, we exited the stadium and headed south.  This year after we passed McCormick place they routed us to the northbound lane of Lake Shore Drive.  Just after the 4 mile mark, they routed us back to the lakefront path.  Just before the 5 mile mark they had the turnaround and routed us back north.  As we ran north we saw the end of the race, which was well over 2 miles, so we had plenty of time to finish the run.

Running with Jo helped keep my pace.  We didn’t do any intervals for the first half of the race, except for the bathroom break and the water stations.  After mile 5 we started taking 1 mile/30 sec intervals, which kept us on track to finish at a good page.  I finished in 2hrs 4min 35sec.  We were hoping to finish below 2 hrs., even though we didn’t finish in that time, we did very well.  The weather was a bit cool to start with, but it warmed up.  It was much better weather than we had last year, and this year we didn’t have to run along with concert equipment that was there last year.

I am glad that I ran with Jo on this race, and look forward to other runs with him.  This is one of the races that I will continue to run as long as I am willing, because it is for a good cause, the theme is great and it always has a good vibe with the run. 

Chicago Spring Half Marathon

This is the first race of the Chicagoland Half Marathon series. As most of you know I am in for the medals and this one has a new one and it gets me eligible to get the series one I will complete in the fall.

I was placed in corral G, which wasn’t too bad, it gave me a cushion to be ahead of the end.  This is the first time that I was going to use my interval training on a Half Marathon, so I wasn’t sure how it would go. While I was waiting we saw some friends from Hinsdale. They started the race on time and they released the corrals fairly quick. This year they moved the start and finish on Columbus Drive right next Maggie Daley Park.

We headed south on Columbus Drive and then turned left just before Roosevelt and made our way through the underpass that lead us to the Museum campus. We ran down the lakefront path passing Soldier Field and the McCormick Place. From there it was all open Park and it was a beautiful day for a run. Around mile 3 I saw the lead runner and he was going at a fast pace. We continued to run south and had a turnaround just past 47th street.

I finally found a gel packet that I like which they gave out at this race, it is the Gatorade Endurance Gel, it is not as thick as Gu and it is like juice. Since it rained the night before there were a bunch of puddles that you had to avoid along the path.

When we ran back north we backtracked in a few spots, so I was able to see the last runners and I was able to gauge how much of a cushion I had, and by that time I had enough distance to now worry about it.  We again ran past McCormick Place, Soldier Field and Museums. We continued north on the Lakefront path up to Randolph street. We took a left on Randolph and then another left on Columbus and the end was in sight.

I finished in 2hrs 31min 07sec. My interval training seemed to work, I still have a lot to work with, around mile 10 I started doing double intervals run for 1/2 mile and walk 30 seconds. I am trying to get my time down again so I can use that time for better corral placement, especially in the Disney runs. We didn’t stay for the after activities because I was heading out to California in a couple hours. I did get my plant, which is one of the highlights of this race.  It was again a fun race, the volunteers were great and the medal was bigger than I thought it would be.

Race to Wrigley 5K

The big reason why I ran this race is because they gave finisher medals this year that celebrated the world series championship. So when my friend pointed it out to me I signed up right away. Luckily I did because the race sold out relatively fast.  With Chicago weather being weird these days we’ve been watching the weather closely days before the race, it kept on fluctuating from clear to rainy, but a few days before the race it showed that there was a chance of rain in the morning and more in the afternoon, so we were lucky that the held out for the morning.

My friend from out of town came to run this race, since he is a Cubs fan. We met him by the stadium and hung out and took pictures in front of the Marquee. It was a bit chilly and windy that morning, but did not complain because it wasn’t raining. There were now corrals, so we made our way to the start and waited with a whole bunch of people in Cubs gear waiting for the National Anthem and the official start.

Once we started we ran west on Addison and then took a right on Ravenswood. We ran 4 blocks and then took a right onto Irving Park Road. We then took a left at Southport and then a right on Belle Plaine. We were not on Belle Plaine that long and took a right onto Clark Ave. In the past they had us run on Clark back to the ballfield, but this time they had us turn left and ran again on Irving Park Road. We ran up to Sheffield Ave and took a left and headed back to the field. Once we got to the field they routed us into the stadium via the bleachers entrance. We ran through the corridors and made our way to the exit right below the marquee, and routed us to Clark Street toward the Finish. There was a big bottle neck at the finish, so we walked our way towards the finish and probably waited for almost 5 minutes to cross. It is because they had the water and bananas really close to the finish and the medals just there too. I finished in 34min 43sec. Did pretty good, maybe if there wasn’t a bottleneck at the finish I could have had a sub 30 time! I do believe that my interval training is helping with pacing and I do hope that it cuts my half time a bit.

Overall it was a fun run, running through the Wrigleyville neighborhood and running inside the corridors of the ball field. They have been renovating the area and it is looking quite nice.