Running the Chicago Marathon was on my bucket list, along with the other World Major Marathons. Now I have two down and four to go! When my husband and I ran the Yuengling Shamrock Marathon back in March the goal was for me to qualify for Boston. Well I did, and apparently we also ran times good enough for guaranteed entry into Chicago. I found out when, that same day, Jeremy signed us up and I got a confirmation email in my inbox! He is a sly one. He also realized that the marathon fell the day before our First Wedding Anniversary…what better way to celebrate our love than to complete a marathon together?! Its a Runniversary!
My training for this race was not optimal, my mileage base was low because of traveling during transitional leave, and I was coming off sluggish humid summer running. Our goal going in was to embrace the experience and enjoy ourselves. We wanted to finish between a 3:30-3:45 so we could still make our brunch reservation after the race 😉 We went to Chicago with positive attitudes, excitement over running in a World Major marathon, and no pressures to qualify for anything.
The weather for the race was beautiful!! Sunny blue skies but around 50 at the start and a nice Chicago breeze. The temp ended up around 60 at the finish and made for a gorgeous fall day. I really don’t want to talk about making moves and when I took my Gu gels (6.5, 12.5, 18, and 22) because
the highlight of the race, by far, was the crowd! They were everywhere covering all 26.2 miles of the course and anywhere there was a drought it lasted .1 miles max and there were STILL a few people there. This race went by so fast because we were paying attention to the spectators. My memories of the race aren’t even based on how I was feeling at this mile or that mile, it was distinct memories of little kids dressed as superheroes and hilarious signage! (And this woman I nicknamed “Muscles” who was in front of me for about 12 miles and had the most amazing back I have ever seen…but I digress) At mile six as we were entering Lincoln Park a girl had a sign that read “Hurry up, you’re missing brunch!” Nothing motivates me more than food so I really enjoyed that one. There was one that Jeremy loved a little later that said “If marathons were easy they would be called your Mom!” We also saw at least six signs that made some joke about Trump like “If Trump can run, so can you.” There were multiple live bands, one were dressed as drag queens and another was playing Sweet Caroline as we ran by. Then there were miles 18-21 going through University Village, Pilzen, and Chinatown where there was non-stop music and entertaining spectators handing out oranges, pretzels, and water. My favorite was a large group of South Korean spectators just going crazy singing and dancing with Psy’s Gangnam style!
The final few miles were really awesome, once we turned onto Michigan avenue. I had a moment when I got teary-eyed, like I have during every marathon so far, as I am getting toward the end and I am both happy to finish and sad that its going to be over. And I am thankful that I am able to be out there running, both physically and economically. Its not something to take for granted and I never want to, so I inevitably have a moment during each marathon where that hits me and I reflect. Also thinking about crossing another finish line together, celebrating our Anniversary, made me a little emotional and gave me an energy surge. We turned into Grant Park with smiles on our faces and raised our arms, hand in hand as we crossed the Finish Line. We had our arms around each other and a medical volunteer asked if we needed help and couldn’t walk on our own! Haha nope, just expressing joy and love. We got our medals and after a traditional photo I asked the photographer if she would take one of us kissing! That’s a framer!
I don’t want to get into my splits because 26 of them are boring to read but here is the recap. You can see we were actually on pace to run faster, even though each 5k we got slower and slower, which was a result of Jeremy continuously trying to reign me in knowing I was not physically prepared to maintain anything below a 7:45 pace. A really slow final 10k evened us out and put us over 3:25. I wasn’t wearing the GPS watch and thought I had slowed down a ton during that final 10k but I was feeling a little crappy and didn’t bother to ask! Then there is that surge at the end, always gotta finish strong!
Review
Expo – The Expo was at the McCormick Convention Center which was conveniently located right next to our hotel. Its also right off the Green Line about two miles South of the Art Museum. Its a HUGE complex and there were a ton of vendors. The flow of traffic was a little confusing because you get your bib then walk all the way through the crowd and vendors to get your bag and t-shirt. There is no organization, just a cluster of people walking in both directions. However, there were a TON of freebies and we made out like bandits so ultimately no complaints!
Start – It was very well-organized! The race started at 7:30 (wave 1) and we were able to take a shuttle from our hotel to 10 blocks from the starting line and walked to the final mile to our Gate entrance. There are five Gates with security and from there you go on to your corral entrance where you show your bib to gain access. We had good weather so we didn’t use the gear check option and went straight to our start corral. Well to the port-o-john where we waited twenty minutes to use it and then it was time for the National Anthem. We squeezed into our Corral B just in time to post an Instagram photo (still had service in a crowd of 40,000) and for the gun to go off. It took us three minutes to actually cross the start line. The view of Chicago skyscrapers at the start is stunning!
Course – Spectacular! Its flat and you get to see SO much of Chicago. There are non-stop people cheering ( I know I’ve said that multiple times) and plenty of hydration points! I think about 20 on the course with Water and Gatorade at each one. We were often surprised while we were running when another water point would pop up! There are a plenty of turns so things never seem to drag on or get too boring and where there are bridges with uneven surfaces they lay down a carpet! It never doubles back on itself completely so you won’t pass other runners but you can often see them one block over. I loved it and thanks to the course and crowd want to run this again! Here is a link to the course map if you are curious!
Post-race – Photographers everywhere, beer a minute after you cross the finish line, and a bag of groceries from Mariano’s fresh market! Ok not literally groceries but a bag of goodies, like actual good stuff, greets you as soon as you get your medal and heat blanket. Then, you continue walking and fill your bag with things like protein bars and protein shakes. Within 30 minutes of the race I had a beer, a beef stick, and a protein shake. Perfect!!! I am still a little bit confused on the medal design…if someone can help me out I would appreciate that because Google and Tweeting failed me. The walk feels like it lasts forever before you get to Buckingham Fountain and can sit and stretch for a minute. I personally lay down on concrete and put my heat blanket over my heat. Once we got back up, the walk continued on to the family waiting area which felt like chaos. We moved through that very quickly and listened to a song from the band before we exited and walked to the Adams-Wabash CTA stop and hopped on to head back to our hotel. While I am sure the post-race would be a TON of fun we really wanted to shower, head to brunch, and site see!
Swag – There is a technical
race t-shirt. This year it was a neon-yellow Nike t-shirt. Not the best shirt I have received but they do offer an insane number of Nike products for sale at the expo. There is a free poster, coupons, and of course the medal. There are also beer tickets for the post-race party. It is not the best swag I’ve received (that goes to Shamrock Marathon) but its also reasonably priced for a World Major and there is SO MUCH free food! Plus the digital swag bag has coupons and I was able to get free popcorn from Garrett so I count that as a win!
Overall, the Chicago Marathon is an amazing race! My favorite marathon I’ve run so far for the organization, crowd, route, experience, and FREE FOOD. Not to mention sightseeing in Chicago after the race is a great way to keep your legs from cramping up and the food is perfect for chowing down after running 26 miles! Deep-dish anyone? Here are a few touristy photos from wanderings. I truly believe I feel so good right now we because we walked and moved around so much right after the race. The longer I would sit the worse I felt but the more I walked the better I felt! And those blue skies, just wow!
-Shaina
