From: David Harris (davidharris99@rogers.com)
Subject: Belated Chicago Race Report (oops - a bit long...)
Date: Fri, 18 Oct 2002 00:33:57 GMT

Chicago  ....It's my kind of town!

Definitely a good news/bad news sort of a race.

First, a selected good news bit:

I ran my first ever negative split - by 12 minutes!

So, we got to Chicago on Saturday morning, hooked up with some friends
and drove the course.  What a wacky town.  The subway is in the air,
half the streets are on two levels, a ton of one-way streets and hidden
dead ends.  All of that is to say we didn't drive the exact course, we
drove in the general vicinity.  And it took 2 hours to drive it!  That
scares you a bit.  Had a great pasta lunch at approx mile 16.

Went to the expo in the afternoon.  A good event, tons of stuff, didn't
buy anything but did elbow everyone away from the Goose Creek Brewery
which was handing out tiny little sample glasses of their most excellent
beers.  I had about 30 before they kicked me out.

Our friends went to the pasta dinner.   We tried to get last minute
tickets, but it was sold out..  They have only one sitting, and it is
for 2000 and the tickets were all gone.  So we checked into our hotel in
the Lincoln Park area (which I thought might be semi-trendy, but it
seemed semi-desolate) and walked around in the rain looking for a good
Italian restaurant for a final pasta load.  Saw a sign for Cesar's
Restaurant and ran there.  Turned out to be Mexican (was there not some
famous Italian named Cesar?), but we stayed and had excellent dins and
beers.  Nacho chips, guacamole, beer, rice.  Back to the hotel to pack
and organize for the morning.

Got up at 5:45 to get to the start.  Met a couple on the elevator and
agreed to split a cab to the start.  Got to the start at 6:30ish.  Lots
of time.  Walked backwards through the starting corrals - they were
pretty empty.  Looked for the Gear Storage Tent - it was supposed to be
marked with yellow weather balloons.  Eventually found it, with a single
dusty orange balloon about 4 feet above the roof.  Unfortunately, there
was a bit of a bottleneck between two fences to get to the gear check
area.  There was a gap about 20 feet wide, and about 50 feet long where
most of the 32,000 racers were all trying to get through to the gear
check tent, and then get out again.  I had gotten changed into singlet,
shorts and excellent $5 disposable tyvek jacket while still in the
starting corrals.  It took a good half hour to get through the
bottleneck.  I left via the opposite side which was completely open and
went back to the starting corrals.

They were now packed!  I elbowed my way up into the 9 - 10:00 min/mile
crowd and the gun went off.  It took almost 10 minutes to walk to the
start, but immediately after crossing the start we were able to start
running.   I was beside a guy from NZ, living in London.  It was his
second marathon - his first was about 8 yrs ago.  I asked him why he
didn't run the London 'thon since it was supposed to be very good, but
he said he needed the commitment of a plane ticket across the ocean to
keep him motivated.  I can relate.  Anyways, it was still pretty cold at
the start so I kept the cheap jacket on, and we got to the first mile at
9:42.  Yikes - that's a bit slow, but comfortable.  Missed the second
mile marker, but caught the third - 19:53 for the two miles or a 9:56
pace!  There were a ton of people around and not much chance to pass.
Missed the 4th marker and the next two went by in 17:51 - now we're
cooking at a 8:56 pace.  Ran the 6th in 9:12 and said goodbye to my
buddy.  I started to move faster, but missed the next two markers so ran
3 miles in 25:26 or a 8:29 pace.  Around this time I caught up to a guy
in a black and white cow suit.  What do spectators say to a guy like
that?  "Go Cow!!".

Started to get a bit easier to move, and ran miles 10 and 11 in 16:36 or
8:18 pace.  Mile 12 was 8:12, and 13 was 8:07.  Passed the halfway point
feeling great (had completely given up on time goals and was just
enjoying the scenery and the people) and decided to pick it up in the
back half.  Still in my throw-away jacket as the temp really changed
depending on whether or not you were in the sun or the shade, and the
direction of the wind.  This course has a LOT of turns on it.  I ended
up taking the jacket off at mile 20, but didn't throw it away, just tied
it on in case it got cold again.  And I am cheap.

The second half went something like this:
14    8:05
15    8:05
16    7:52
17    8:02
18    8:13
19    7:48
20    7:54
21    7:44
22    7:44
23    7:59
24    8:01*
25    7:53
26    7:43
26.2 1:29

* this mile had a delay - a couple of spectators with a beautiful 6
month old bulldog.  I had to stop and say hello - our bully (Daisy) was
in the kennel for the weekend and I missed her terribly.

So, while I picked it up a bit, none of it got up to a 7:30 pace (my
optimistic goal) or anything even close.  I did pass a ton of people.
You could buy a 2nd bib with your predicted finish time on it.  People
would wear these on their backs.  I spent my time trying to catch the
3:55, then 3:45 groups.  Finally caught some 3:30ers.  Made the final
turn north for the last two miles and started to work harder.  There was
a head wind, and part of the course goes under a convention center in a
bit of a tunnel for a couple of hundred meters.  Got to the end feeling
great, and moved very quickly through the chip removal, bagels and mylar
blanket sections.  Then I saw a woman with a beer.  Followed my nose to
the Goose Island Brewery table where they were giving out full glasses
of beer.  "Pinch me!" I said.  What a great way to finish a race.

Then had to fight my way back to the baggage tent.  Same situation with
people going both ways through the bottleneck, but this time there were
spectators too!  Got through and met my wife and son there.  Figured our
friends would have given up on this mess and started to walk towards
their hotel.  Tried to call them, but all cell lines were busy.
Eventually they called me.  They were still waiting in the "H" section
of the family reunite part of the park.  Bob had had an excellent race -
not a PB, but still sub-3 so he was quite happy.  We ended up meeting in
their hotel, having a shower and grabbing a bite to eat at a Cajun
place.  No pasta, just beer and red beans!  Then off to the Art
Institute, and our friends headed off to the airport.  We went back to
our place and found a good Italian restaurant nearby, pigged out, went
back to the hotel and passed out.  Spent Monday and Tuesday doing
architecture tours of Chicago, then drove home.

Very little soreness or pain.  I have NEVER felt half this good after a
'thon.  No problem walking down stairs, almost no sore muscles.  The
balls of my feet are aware that they were used.  There is a lesson in
this somewhere (like don't race - it makes you sore).  I am convinced
that I could run Toronto CIM faster this week.  But I won't.  But I just
might run the half.  If not, I'll be volunteering at the water station
put on by Marathon Dynamics Running Club (shameless plug).

So what was good about it?  A fast flat course as promised, but a LOT of
people on it.  Good crowds, nearly as good as Boston.  Very deep at a
lot of places, but the last 2 miles are almost empty until the final few
hundred meters!  So would I go back?  Sure, but I'd fight for a better
starting place, or at least know the secret to getting your baggage
stowed without the hassle.

d