I’m not going to lie, I had a tough day out there, but the Chicago Marathon delivered as usual. The crowds and the race organization were terrific and I have so much love for Chicago and Chicagoans. Things have been alarming here in recent weeks and the support for our communities was a high point of the run. We showed the world how much we love Chicago.
Pre-Race
The week leading up to the race was busy as usual. I did two run tours – one with a group including Lena from Go! Running Tours, volunteered at the Expo and saw the taping of Kara Goucher and Des Linden’s podcast Nobody Asked Us at The Chicago Athletic Club.
On Saturday, I led an awesome shake-out with Arc’teryx Chicago, Latinas Run Chicago, Chicago Athlete and River North Run Club. Then, we met up with an old friend who was in town to run the marathon for the first time (Chris ran 3:09 and had a great run!) and had a low key pre-race dinner with Stacy.
I went home and got everything ready for the race before dinner. Before I knew it, I was setting the alarm for race day.
Race Day
I took the el to Grant Park with James. He went to his Team 2 End Aids hospitality suite and I went to Grant Park. I almost immediately ran into my friends Scott and Zach. I hung out with them for a bit and then ran into Lance before heading to the baggage drop. It’s always great to see friends. I got in the porta potty line and made it into the corrals with ten minutes to spare before they closed.
I went close to the 3:55 pace group to say hello to Cynthia. I hung out with Colleen and her friends and chatted with people until the start. I planned to start with the 4 hour pace group and wound up in the middle of the two for a while.
My first mile was a little quick, so I slowed down some. I didn’t have any spectators in the first 5K this year that I knew of and missed Lauren in the early miles (pretty much mayhem). I just tried to relax and enjoy the crowd. I’ve been struggling with my running this year so I just tried to focus on the mile I was in and run 5K by 5K.
I totally missed The Husband, Stacy and Leslye at mile 6.5 this year. I think they were a bit further north than usual. I didn’t see them and they didn’t see me. I blame the new singlet and my swerving to the other side to see neighbors from my building. I did see several neighbors that I know.
Carla spotted me as always at mile 8 and I saw my teammate Ken. I enjoyed the cheerleaders in Boystown and running through our neighborhood.
The Husband and our crew were at Mile 9 again. I have this same photo from the last five years. This is the first one with a different singlet . It always makes me smile. I’m a one trick pony, but it works!
Heading south, I missed Carolyn and Michael and saw Renee and Scott as we ran through Lincoln Park to Old Town. Sasha and Bobby were near mile 11 with a bottle of Gatorade, as promised. I took it and sipped on it for miles. It was so nice not to have to get it at the (sticky) aid stations. I did realize my hands were totally red after a while. LOL.
I enjoyed the crowds through Old Town and back downtown. It was great to pass the half marathon mark. I saw Eliza dressed in a blow up unicorn suit at Mile 14.5 and she got some pics.
And I ran into the West Loop and headed toward Fernanda, Ela and Ron. They got amazing photos and Fernanda jumped in and ran along side me for a few blocks. Always great to have a good friend to commiserate with on a tough day.
I headed West and enjoyed the charity area. Rob and the kids saw me but I missed them. I saw Molly, Edie and June cheering for one of the girl’s teachers in a big group. And then I saw Jeff cheering with Nasty Swimmers. Around this time, I saw Colleen. She was struggling and had some nausea. She caught back up with me a few minutes later and we ran together for most of the remainder of the race. It was SO helpful!
The energy in Pilsen was amazing. It was so great to see the Mexican community out in full force and to have runners cheering for the pro-immigrant/anti-ICE messaging. I was worried that this area would be emptier this year and I was so happy that it was great as usual.
I knew a lot of run crews were at and after mile 20. I saw Adrian with Run Too Hard and he captured amazing photos (he’s a professional photographer!) and then Antoinette caught me at Three Run Two and I saw Ramsey (another professional photog.) I had poured a ton of water over my head which is why I look so wet. I continued doing that through the end of the race.
Before I knew it, I was at mile 22. I saw my training partner Beth at mile 22 and 24 and she was so uplifting and positive. Colleen and I kept leap frogging and we found each other again for the last time at mile 24 and decided to finish together.
I saw Maureen and Cliff around mile 25 and the crowds were electric. It was awesome to be closing in on the finish especially on a less than stellar day. I smiled all of the way to the end (even up “Mount” Roosevelt). And just like that I was crossing the finish line.
Colleen and I hung out and took photos. We got our Chicago Distance Series medals and gave each other huge hugs before going to our respective after parties. Everything is better with friends.
I really struggled from 5K on in the race but I tried to keep a positive attitude. My finish time was 4:31.44 (10:22/mile). While this was my slowest Chicago of 8 and second slowest marathon ever, I’m proud that I finished. It’s the tough ones that make the good ones sweeter. This was my 68th marathon, 8th Chicago and 2nd marathon finish this year.
Congrats to Wendy on running a marathon PR at Chicago 25 years after her first! And to all of the other amazing runners hitting personal bests or finishing their first marathons or just gutting it out like I did.
So many thanks to everyone who cheered, sent messages, trained with me and supported me this year (and for the last 29+ years of marathons!) I’m so lucky to have you all and am grateful to still be out there and able to finish with a smile after all of these years.
And if you’re still reading this… THANK YOU for all of the love and support.