Soldier Field 10 Miler

Finally, the weather has warmed up in Chicago! Just in time for the race that starts in Soldier Field and we finish on the 50-yard line. 2018 marks the 15th anniversary of the race, and I’ve been running it since the 10th anniversary.

I had to use my old shoes, the ones that I used for the Dopey challenge, since my new ones that I got earlier in the week weren’t broken in yet. To read about that, see my previous blog post on searching for new shoes.

They again offered free parking at Soldier Field, which really cut down the traffic in the morning because we were able to get a parking spot quickly and get myself to the corrals without being rushed. The corrals were color coded with Red, Blue and White. I was in corral F which was part of the Red corral and the first wave. I made my way to the front of the corral, so I had a lot of cushion for time.

The national charity for the run is Folds of Honor, which provides educational scholarships to the children and spouses of the fallen and disabled service members who served our country. The local charity for the run is SALUTE, Inc., which they provide short term financial assistance to bridge the temporary income gaps and meet the basic needs of post 9/11 veterans. With Rick’s dad that has been in the Navy and Brother in Law and Nephew in the Army, this was a way of honoring them during this Memorial weekend.

The race kicked off at 7:00, right after they had the opening ceremonies that included the gun salute, taps and the National Anthem. When they released my corral you can feel the temperature rising, and I was happy that I wore a sleeveless shirt. We exited the stadium and made our way out to the south parking area towards McCormick Place. They routed us through the covered section of the East building of McCormick Place and the out to South Lake Shore Drive. It was a little crowded for the first part of the race, but with me being an interval runner it got thinner as we passed the mile markers.

The route included running on Lake Shore Drive and the lake front path. When we turned around just before mile 6 we had a great view of Chicago’s skyline on this clear day. I believe they planned in relation to how the previous weekend was, because the course could have had a couple more water stations for the heat was really dehydrating us. My pace showed how the heat got to me, as my pace increased as I approached the last 5K.

As we approached the stadium we entered through the side and entered the field from the north side and made our way to the 50-yard line to the finish. I finished in 2hrs 21min 25sec. I received my medal and saw Rick in the stands and motioned that I was heading out. I picked up my goodie bag and waited for Rick outside and then went to the after race party. As in the past I was emotional in the beginning, had fun throughout and tired when I finished! Would I run this one again? Yes I would!