Chicago Half Marathon

Finishing up the Chicagoland Half Marathon Series with the Chicago Half Marathon in Hyde Park.  Usually this race has cooler temperatures, since it is towards the end of September.  But this year Chicago has been having out of the ordinary weather and the weekend weather had the potential to get into the 90’s.

This year I was joined with my friend Jo, which it would be his first half marathon.  We got up early, picked up Jo and headed down to the Museum of Science and Industry where we usually park.  There was a photo meet up for the Midwest Half Fanatics, which I went to, but there were only two others that arrived.  So we took a quick picture and then I headed back to gear check and joined Jo and headed to the corrals.

We were both placed in corral M.  They released all the corrals at once, so we walked up until the start line and then we were off!  We started off at Jackson Park, made our way through the eastern boarder of the University of Chicago campus.  We ran through the Hyde Park neighborhood until we connected to street connecting to Lake Shore Drive.

Once we passed the Museum of Science and Industry we made our way to the northbound lanes of Lake Shore Drive.  Just as we passed mile 8 we went on the off ramp on 31^st street and crossed the overpass and turned left onto the on ramp to go back on Lake Shore Drive.

We were now heading back to the finish on the southbound lanes of Lake Shore Drive.  They had the Event Alert System at Yellow before we started the race, which indicated that the event conditions are less than ideal for the race.  I saw when we got to mile 10 that they changed it to Red which indicated potentially dangerous conditions.  It was because it was really starting to get hot.  The had water misting fans along the last part of the course, which was a welcomed addition to the race, which helped cooling us down.

We started with my regular interval pace, but once we got closer to the finish, and when it was starting to get hot, I modified the intervals so that we would take more time walking and a bit more frequently.  Jo did very well with my pacing and we managed to navigate this course in best way we could considering the conditions of the weather.

As we turned the last corner we saw the Statue of the Republic and right next to it was the finish line.  I finished the race in 3hrs 1min 44sec, and Jo finished a few seconds behind me.  We collected our medals and headed to the Finish Festival, where I got my challenge medal and got our free beer and pizza.

Although the weather was not ideal, it was fun running with Jo.  I am happy that he finished in an upright position and that he finished his first half marathon with me!  There were a lot of people take away by medical, I hope that they got the medical attention they needed and that they are doing OK.

Another challenge done for the year, and again they did not disappoint with the medals.

Run the Mag Mile 10K

This is another race that I went to an expo and was reeled in by the medal.  Yes, I am a sucker when it comes to the medal.  That plus an expo discount how can you go wrong?  I did not realize when I signed up for this it would be the back end of 3 weekends of running, with one weekend which was really draining.  When race day came I was determined to complete this and get back into training for the marathon which is coming up soon!

We arrived at the start in enough time to check my gear and get into my corral.  They placed me in corral C, it was nice to start early and didn’t have to wait to start.  Once we started we headed south on Columbus drive and turned right at Congress Parkway and made our way to Michigan Ave.

From Michigan Ave. we headed north and once we crossed the DuSable Bridge we started to run the Mag Mile! Along the mile we saw the Wrigley Building, Tribune Tower, Water Tower Place, John Hancock Center, and of course the Michigan Ave. Disney Store.  They had the turnaround by Chicago Ave, where we ran down Michigan Ave and turned left at Randolph.

They had the break off point of the 5K and the 10K at Columbus, so if you stayed on your left you were running the 10K course.  They routed us towards the lakefront trail and we ran all the way down to the Museum Campus where they turned us around and we retraced our route on the lakefront trail and back on Randolph street.  Just I was approaching the turn at Columbus I saw the end of the run, so I knew that I had plenty of time to finish.

The finish was in sight when we turned on Columbus.  I did my intervals on this run with success, I finished the course in 1hour 7min 39sec.  Which has kept me hopeful, as I am back to my regular pace.  It has been cool in Chicago since we got back from California, which helped in running.  It felt good to get back out on the Chicago streets and I am looking forward in the next couple of runs coming up for me.

Disneyland Half Marathon – Pixar’s Toy Story

Arrived early to get through security, gear checked and get to the front of my corral for the second part of the double dare, the Disneyland Half Marathon.  The whole series was themed in celebrating Pixar, which the half was dedicated to Toy Story.  Even at 5:00 in the morning you could feel the heat and humidity, which gave the indication of how hot it was going to be.  Before we started they kept of informing us of the heat and that the warning system was currently at yellow.  If it changes to red, then the course would be shortened because of the dangers of the heat.  That was a bit disconcerting, especially since it took them awhile to release the first corral.

The did release the corrals, but 10 minutes late.  We were off to complete the 13.1 miles around the parks and the streets of Anaheim.

We started the course like we did the previous day and entered the property through the gated area across from Paradise Pier.  Again we entered California Adventure through Radiator Springs right by ornament valley.  We cruised along the main drag in Radiator Springs and buzzed through Bugs land and entered Hollywood land right by the new Guardians of the Galaxy ride.  We ran through Buena Vista Blvd. towards Pacific Wharf and entered Paradise Pier.  We ran behind Mickey’s fun Wheel and made our way to Grizzly Peak.  We exited California Adventure and ran to the side service road of Disneyland and entered the park through Critter Country by Splash Mountain.  We made our way through New Orleans Square and ran through the outskirts of Adventureland and Frontierland and entered Fantasyland right by Pinocchio’s restaurant.

At mile 3 we ran through the castle and then ran past the Matterhorn and looped around and entered Tomorrowland.  We exited and took a left at the hub and ran through Main Street and exited the park to the service streets east of the park entrance.  Just before we exited the property we had to stop, because there was a fire truck trying to get in, so we had to go to the side to allow the truck to pass.

Once we were out of the park we exited on Harbor and we were on our way to finish the half marathon on the streets of Anaheim.  Along the way we saw all types of cars along the road, and this year there was one that was just like Doc Hudson from Cars.  In the past when we went by the Honda Center they would route us along the Santa Ana River Trail, but this year they kept us on the streets.  We entered A’s Stadium from Douglas Road and went through the outfield of the A’s Stadium the opposite way.  When we exited the stadium we ran along Gene Autry Way, which marked the last 3 miles of the run.  We connected to Katella Ave by Harbor Blvd and once we turned on Disneyland Drive, you knew that you were close to the end.

The heat started rising ever since the sun came out and there was minimal cloud cover.  By mile 9 I started feeling the effects on my body.  It felt like I couldn’t get hydrated.  I drank the Gatorade and water, but that didn’t help.  So I ditched my 1mile run/30 sec walk and did mostly walking to the end.  At times I would get a burst of energy and I would run, but I mainly walked.  Once we got on the property, by the Paradise Pier hotel, I took a jog to the end and then pushed it a bit when I saw the finish.  I finished in 3hrs 45min 00sec, by far my worst time ever.  I would rather finish with a bad time, than stopping from heat exhaustion or dehydration.

This was a challenge this year, and the last part of the Half was not enjoyable at all.  I am glad that I finished, and I completed the double dare challenge.  At this point I don’t know if I will be running this again next year, but you never know!

Finisher Certificates for the Half and the Double Dare

 

Disneyland 10K – Monsters Inc./Monsters University

This year they dropped “Dumbo” from the Double Dare, so now it is called Disneyland Double Dare.  This year’s theme was Pixar, so the challenge medal was designed for the theme.  The 10K going in line with Pixar, was themed Monsters Inc./University.  Along with the new name of the challenge, there was a new start time and also a new course.

The start time was an hour earlier than last year, so it was an even earlier wake up time for me.  Since there has been changes in the security at the Disney parks I was worried that it would take longer to get in, so we left earlier so I could get on the property by 4:00 AM. Security was not that bad and I got to the starting area in plenty of time.

This year they placed me in corral F, which was close enough for me to see the jumbo screen at the start, and was able to see all the pre-race entertainment.  They started releasing the corrals at 5:00.

When our corral was released we headed down Disneyland Drive and turned left to the gated entrance across from the Paradise Pier Hotel.  We ran along the service roads of California Adventure until we entered the park by Radiator Springs.  We briefly cut through Bugs land and made our way through Pacific Wharf to Paradise Pier.  We circled around Mickey’s Fun Wheel and exited Paradise Pier towards Grizzly Peak, we briefly ran through Buena Vista Street and made our way down to Hollywood Land before we exited the park.

Last year they had us run through part of Anaheim by the convention center, but this year they kept us within the park property.  When we exited California Adventure, we ran through the service streets.  Around mile 3.5 we entered Disneyland through ToonTown, where we were greeted by Donald on top of his house.  We exited ToonTown and ran through Tomorrowland and Fantasyland.  When we ran through Sleeping Beauty’s castle we took a right into Frontierland and made our way through New Orleans Square and turned around by the Haunted Mansion and ran through Adventureland then out to Main Street.

We exited Disneyland and was routed to the bus drop off area and then back to the service streets of California Adventure.  We exited where we entered, across from Paradise Pier hotel and made our way towards the finish by the Disneyland Hotel.

The photo ops were much better than last year.  I was worried that since it was Monsters Inc./University themed that it would only be those characters along the course.  I was happy to see that there were other Pixar characters out as well as some Disney characters.  Mike and Sulley were together for a photo op so I waited in their line, which was very long.  By the time I was finished with their photo they announced that the balloon people were about 14 minutes away.  I already know that I wouldn’t make a PR with a Disney race and sure enough I didn’t.  I finished in 1hr 53min 12sec.  Despite the rising temperatures I did enjoy this race.  The medal again was Monsters inspired with Mike and Sully coming out of a door with the red light on top.

To add to the excitement, the Half Marathon weekend made the news, where a bib thief got caught.  Although she was released after claiming that she bought the bib online, it seems kind of fishy, because she ran the Tinkerbell one on a stolen bib.  It is rumored that she has been banned from RunDisney and the parks!  Hmm…will be following this story online.

Finisher Certificate