Total Posts: 10
1.8 Years Ago

Total Posts: 667
1.8 Years Ago

Can anyone name the movie this line comes from? HAHAHA

Deri,

I hear the Chicago Marathon is wonderful!!!

Total Posts: 44
1.7 Years Ago

Better Off Dead is an awesome movie (now available on DVD)!

Total Posts: 15
1.7 Years Ago

I did it in 2004 and couldn't stand the congestion at the beginning. I've completed ten marathons so far, typically averaging 7:30-8:15/mi throughout, but even with a preferred starting spot couldn't do better than a 10mi pace the first couple miles with the 33,000 other people running.

High point was running by the United Center with 'I Wanna Be Like Mike' blasting, but I don't think I'd run it again because of the chaos.

Total Posts: 87
1.7 Years Ago

Good luck - happy, healthy training

Laura

Total Posts: 12
14.6 Months Ago

helpful hints:

1. as mentioned above, the beginning is VERY clustered, but it does thin out after mile 1.5-2 and no problems after that. don't get too stressed about the crowds, just soak in the amazing experience!!!

2. sign up for a new balance pace team at the expo and try to line up near the pace leader (will be holding a HUGE sign, you won't miss them) - they are awesome and stick right on pace, so even with the slower start you will catch up later and can finish on time.

3. don't rush for the first few water tables...stay in the middle of the road and run a little further. this will help you speed through the water stops and make up time.

4. the crowds are AMAZING, but definitely thin out between chinatown and from US cellular field until michigan ave, so if you think you'll need some motivation, i would bring your music...just in case.

5. temperature - it usually starts cold, but really warms up, so make sure to pay attention to the weather and dress appropriately. with the exception of last year, it usually gets warm enough for tanks/shorts. i even got sunburnt one year!

6. write/iron-on/tape your name on the front of your shirt. there are >1 million spectators along this course and if your name's on your shirt you'll have a TON of strangers cheering you on- it's pretty cool and really helps around mile 22 :)

7. overall the race is really well organized and there are ample aid stations. so just relax and have fun!

congrats for all your hard training and good luck in the race!!

Total Posts: 10
14.0 Months Ago

Total Posts: 11
14.0 Months Ago

The crowds are absolutely amazing and even when they thin out you still get the hardcore people who come out to cheer you through the hard miles. I had a group of guys, at mile 22, one year grilling brats and drinking beer and offering them to runners.

It's a very flat, fast course (if you're fast...for some reason it's never fast for me!).

Good luck and if you're at the expo on Friday night stop by the Girls on the Run booth and say hi! I'll be volunteering there after I pick-up my own packet.

Have a great race!

Chris

Total Posts: 108
13.5 Months Ago

Total Posts: 1
13.5 Months Ago

Total Posts: 386
13.5 Months Ago

Total Posts: 10
12.7 Months Ago

I ran the Chicago Marathon*

As some of you may know I have been preparing to run the Chicago Marathon. This is something I set out to do in January when I registered. I started training in June.

Training for a marathon takes a great deal of time and sacrifice if you want to run it well. For me, this meant 5:00am Tuesday/ Thursday trainings and 4:00am Saturday long runs. I also began seeing a Sports Massage therapist every four weeks to stave off any injury that may occur. During the last twelve weeks I also hired a personal trainer that specializes in pilates just so I'd have core strength built up by the time the marathon came around. The last two weeks of my training I cut out all alcohol and everything that I ate, I ate in realtion to perfomance training. I realize now that I was a bit indulgent in my training, but I really wanted to find out what my body could do if I gave it what it needed to get through those 26.2 miles.

Finally, October came around and soon I'd be taking off for the race. About a week before, we recieved heat advisory warnings from the race director. This did not seem very worrisome, being from Florida I was very use to 80 degree temperatures, and almost felt a bit sorry for the Northerners who had never run in heat before.

The morning of the race started out hopeful, but soon I began to worry about what it would be like around noon when I would hit the latter end of my run. However, the excitement of the day quickly turned my attention to concentrating on the first ten miles. Don't go out too fast. Conserve energy! This ended up being my mantra.

We didn't cross the starting line until 8:30am (it takes about thirty minutes for all 37,000 people to walk to the startingline) , but soon we were off! I gotta say, Chicago is a really great town and the crowds were so amazing. They really take this race seriously and do so much to support the runners. Little did I know how much we would come to depend on the people of Chicago.

Everything seemed to be going great until this happened

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qbZTI7Cw0rM

Yes folks no water at the mile 6 aid station. They ran out! The earlier runners ended up drinking and dousing themselves with water which doesn't leave any for the turtles (i.e. me). So here is what happened. Some of the spectators started buying runners bottled water, restarants started l leaving bowls of water out for us, people who lived on the race route started bringing out hoses to cool us off. We had to run for five miles without a water stop. One of my running partners had a cell phone on her and we quickly placed a call to her husband and John so that they could meet us at different areas throughout the course with bottled water. Until then runners stared hoarding water because no one knew if there would be water at the next station. This really plays with your mind when you know you have about 15 to 20 miles to go.

Finally we made it to mile 10 and was feeling really great! I tried to speed up a bit, but realized my legs wouldn't go any faster. I was poping electrolyte tablets every mile and around half way through poped my first pain medication. Worst of all, I realized that most of the marathon up until that point had been run in the shade. By the time I had gotten to mile 14 there was no shade to be found. I had started walking a lot more than I wanted to and the time goal I had set for myself was completely gone. It was now 12:30 or so and the heat of the day was upon us. It was miserable, but all I wanted to do was cross the finishline. I had also noticed something very weird. The spectators were still out, but they didn't cheer nearly as loudly and instead just stared at us. Then the rumors began. People said that they were going to cancel the race. At first I thought, that it was a cruel joke. At that point all your body wants to do is stop, but its your mind that keeps you going. For someone to even bring up canceling the race, was just down right mean. It then occured to me that I had not seen another mile marker since mile 16. I decided to ask for confirmation from a fellow runner if those cancelation rumors were in fact true. He simply said, " The street that you and I are now walking on, is not on the race course. They are diverting us back to Grant Park." With that, my race was done. I turned my watch off 3 hours 45 minutes into it. Mile 16 was the farthest I got.

I ended up crossing the finishline; from the opposite side I thought I would be running from. They made us walk to the finishline do a U turn and recieve the race medal. Disapointed, in tears, and sore I returned to my hotel room to lament about the day. The only thing that brought me out of my depression was a couple of drinks, a nice steak dinner at Harry Carey's and the shared stories of disapointment from fellow runners.

My Chicago experience did teach me however that it is about the journey and not the destination. I have met some great people training for this marathon. Most importantly, I have met my healthiest, happiest self. Tomorrow is Saturday, and although I don't have a race that I'm training for, I'm gonna meet a couple of my friends at 5:00am for a nice long run. I might even have a story or two to share with them.

Total Posts: 386
12.7 Months Ago

What an ordeal! Glad your ok and I admire your attitude. Even though I typically enter races in the cool / cold time of the year, in Texas there have been some pretty warm ones. I know people think I'm crazy but I will always carry my own hydration in the form of a CamelBak. I know it adds weight but as slow as I run having 100 ounces on my back isn't going to make that much of a difference. I hope, if you want to, you get to finish that marathon next year and that it will be a lot cooler.

Total Posts: 108
12.6 Months Ago

Congrats on an awesome race. Your heart and soul made the whole 26.2 I'm glad your healthy and able to do it again. Vickie

Total Posts: 349
12.6 Months Ago

Great race report, thank you for sharing your story.

I can understand how distressing it would be to train that hard and not be able to do the full race, if I'd had my first big race cancelled due to weather it might have easily put me off racing again. I think you came out fo it with the right attitude for sure.

Any plans to do another marathon next year? Or find a half marathon early in the year as you already have such a great base of fitness from training for Chicago? Half marathons are a fun distance.

Total Posts: 10
12.5 Months Ago

Well I think I'm gonna stick closer to home and run some marathons in state for another year or so.

I don't think its a bad idea for anyone to carry their own hydration, especially now, after running Chicago. From now on I will run with a cell phone as it was literally a lifesaver during the marathon.

Total Posts: 10
12.5 Months Ago

Thanks for the words of encouragement!

Total Posts: 10
12.5 Months Ago

Chicago fortunately was my second and not my first marathon. I did Marine Corp the year before and from then on became a self proclaimed endorphin junkie. I do have plans to run the OUC Half Marathon in downtown Orlando in early December and will be running the Breast Cancer Marathon in February in Jacksonville, FL.

Total Posts: 88
12.3 Months Ago

You have a fantastic attitude and I'm very proud of you for that - I think there are many people out there who couldn't handle it as well as you are. And you're getting back on the horse early in the New Year eh - all the best with your training for those races...

I did New York earlier this month and all went well tg.

J

Total Posts: 10
10.1 Months Ago

Something tells me that Chicago in 2008 will be a great race to run as all eyes in the running community will be on race officials and how they do their planning this year. Good luck with training!