October 9, 2011
Finish Time: 4:41:43
The Expo:
The expo was located at the McCorrmick Convention Center. We picked up our race packets and t-shirts (nice white short sleeve techs) and then headed to the vendors. First stop was the Nike race apparel of course, especially since they tend to sell out of small sizes fast. There were a lot of choices, long sleeves, short sleeves, techs or cotton, jackets, hats, water bottles. You name it- Nike thought of it. We opted for long sleeve race jackets and a short sleeve cotton t-shirt. Both cute. The jackets are perfect to run it too- pocket and all.
Next stops were the dozens of other vendors. We talked to Rock ‘n’ Roll and tried to find out who the headliner will be in Vegas but she wouldn’t budge. We should know soon though…. We hope. She was pretty excited about Miami though and said it will be the biggest headliner they have ever had. Hmmmmm…..
The usual vendors were there, so we ate our way through…. Cliff (who surprised us with great granola bars), kefir (great froyo), smuckers natural peanut butter (not bad), nuun sports drink (pink lemonade and tropical are the best), larabars, and a really good protein bar that came in a white chocolate/caramel or peanut butter/jelly (also chocolate flavors too). Wish we remembered the name of them.
Then we shopped our way through…. Got more arm light bands (nite beams), and headbands with martini glasses for Vegas (Razzy Roo headbands- they say they never slip off unless you have a tiny head like one of us does who shall remain nameless but you have a 50% chance of getting it right).
We walked through the whole thing and took our time, about 3 hours…very fun. Then we boarded the shuttle and headed back to the hotel.
Highlight of Chicago’s Great Places We Visited:
· Sprinkles cupcakes (yum)
· Garrett’s Popcorn (Chicago blend is a must and pumpkin
caramel)- you smell the place two blocks away (double yum)
· Gino’s Pizza East (Chicago stuffed- takes about 45 min-1 hr. to
make but well worth it
· Shopping on the miracle mile (lululemon, Nordstroms, Macy’s, Ann
Taylor, Nike…..)
· Bowls (Asian food and best gingerail ever!!- They make it from
scratch there). This was a great post race lunch spot
· Texas Brazzilian steakhouse (fantastic salad bar and meats- our
post race dinner spot)
Downtown dogs (great Chicago style hot dogs)
Dinner at Fortnetto Mei the night before the race with our parents
The Race:
We woke up at 5:45, dressed, and headed out to Michigan Avenue to walk to the start at 6:15. It was still dark and there were thousands of other runners on the way. Everyone had their gels clipped to them, bibs on, nervous energy… the marathon buzz was beginning. We got a few odd looks as we were wearing flannel throw aways in case it was chilly at the start. We’ve obviously never run a marathon in such warm weather conditions. One of the photographers looked at us and said, “You’re throwing those away after you start right?”
We knew it would be a hot day:
Gatorade was one of the sponsors so they were giving out their prime drink, which we love so we got some and then we headed out to our wave with the mass marathoners. This one is big, like NYC (50,000 runners) so the energy is fierce!! The corrals closed right at 7 and they weren't joking because people were jumping over into them at the last minute. We starting with the national anthem as usual and then we were off.
We started out a little too fast which is easy to do with such a big race. The numbers of runners and the spectators can easily distract from the pacing. It didn't take long to warm up, in fact, it happened immediately once we ran through a tunnel at the start. It felt pretty hot at that moment with all of those bodies in a tunnel. We ran through the city and under a lot of bridges.
Chicago is known for being flat and fast. We both agreed that it isn't as fast as people think because of the sheer volume of people.... and there were hills. Not big ones, but they were there.
The spectators were easily the best part of the race. They were there for the entire race, from start to finish, much like NYC. We ran through Boys town at Mile 7. One of the best parts was running along Adams street at miles 13-15. It is a long street lined by sky scrapers- very cool when you look ahead and see the thousands of runners heads ahead of you. Of course we also started on Columbus drive and finished at the park there. Mile 17 was Little Italy. It was great running through tunnels or whenever we ran by the L (their rapid transit system). People would be sitting on the bridges cheering us on.
Mile 15- feeling great!
The weather at Chicago is known for being sporadic with either really hot (one year in 2007 it reached record breaking temps in the 90's and forced runners to stop and get hospitalized), or really cold (the following year there was freezing rain and snow on the ground).
This time we ran it in the low 80's which felt pretty hot. The race crew, volunteers, and spectators were awesome though! They turned on fire extinguishers, had baby pools filled with wet sponges, passed out ice, set up sprinklers, passed out ample water and gatorade, had fans, and basically did everything to keep us cool. One of the best sites was some guy with a big hose and a bag of water strapped to his back and he just sprayed everyone who ran by him. It was as if the whole city was out there in the heat with the sole goal to help us race and finish strong.
Mile 21 and feeling great
Mile 21 and feeling great
We made sure we ran through every single sprinkler in site and at each water station we took 2 cups of water, one to drink and the other to pour on our heads. Our hair would be soaked and then literally dry by the next half mile. But we had great support from all of the spectators and our parents came along with their Sisters on the Run sign.
Our Mom made that sign when we ran NYC and that is the best marathon sign ever!!!! We have a pretty good routine now. The night before the race we pick out the spots they will be at, then when we get within 1/2 mile of the spot, we each take one side of the road and look for them. Without a hitch we spot that sign ahead and run for it. There are two sides to it. One is Go Sisters on the Run! The other is the one in the picture to the left above.
We spotted the parentals (AKA Sisters on the Run race crew) at Mile 21 and we were in the home stretch. It was hot and people were starting to look pretty beat. Our mom was hilarious because in front of all these runners she shouts, "Wow you two look great you should see some of these guys!" We took the compliment, hugged them, and told them we would see them at the finish festival.
The best cheer section was right after that around Mile 23, there was a group of women dancing and singing for us. It was awesome. We kept on running and going through sprinklers until we got close. At the end they had Nike inspiration signs, a jumbo tron and signs saying "1 more mile," "1/2 mile left" "800 meters left", etc. Very cool to see! But not as nice as that Finish line. It was great to cross and get our bling. Then we made our way through the finish line where they had bags of ice and fans blowing. They also had the heat blankets which we grabbed out of habit, only to immediately tear it off when it felt like our skin was baking under it. We got our beers and walked to meet our race crew in the park. They had bands playing and tons of runners relaxing. All in all, it was a great one!
No comments:
Post a Comment