Chicago Marathon recap

PreRace

Here's my impression of Chicago. It is very clean and it reminds me of downtown Oakland except that it is thriving. There is homelessness, and that's clearly evident. But I'm ever so amazed that huge cities like Chicago and NYC can have a respectable, yet mostly clean city and transportation system. Why can't San Francisco have the same? It's shameful to live in a city where it's not up to standards similar to those two great cities in the U.S. Anyway, Chicago was fun and the city is gorgeous partly due to the new and existing architecture.
The Lakefront reminded me of The Embarcadero as I did the N***town evening run on Thursday evening. Defending champion, Cheriyot, was there as well as Olympic trials hopeful, Jessica Langford, were there. (Both didn't do so well.) A competition between Northside and Southside ensued for fundraising charities.
The Science and Tech museum is definitely a must see in Chicago. It houses a German U-Boat, and has such oddball exhibits as discovering the science of a coal mine and going inside a toy factory. At the time, there was also a Star Wars exhibit which I found to be a ripoff at $11. But I am not a fan whatsoever and I should have known better. I also spent some time at the Art Institute of Chicago. While there were some standouts of European art and modern American art, I didn't find too much that I liked. Sure there were the obvious works stuch as Sunday in the Park (watch Ferris Bueller's Day Off) and American Gothic (the one with the farmer holding the pitchfork and the wife spacing off with a stern look).
The weather was quite humid when I arrived. I never really noticed the heat, but I did take into account of how much of my clothes was being stuck to my sweaty skin. It wouldn't be until Sunday when the heat would be such a force to be reckoned with. But I knew what laid ahead so I bought $12 worth of Gatorade from Walgreens (4 32oz and 2 64oz bottles). It was perfect since I had the right amount before the race and when I left Chicago.
The hostel was amazing! There were a few hiccups here and there, but overall I can't complain. At about $25 a night (4 nights totaling $104) in the downtown Loop area and two blocks from the start/finish is priceless! Continental breakfast (simple cereal, toast/muffin, OJ) and pre-race pasta feed was free too. The only hiccup occured when on the day of the marathon I had to leave early, but remembered that I should bring Gatorade to the start. A guy was sleeping in my bed! But it was a mistake, thinking that it was his. It was dark and he just checked in. But I called for security and clean linens just as a precaution.
The CTA is convenient. Not always the fastest and not as great as NYC subway, but it will take you to most places. The buses are clean and efficient too. But I read that they are eliminating a shit load of lines in a few weeks and that fares will increase.
I met someone from the Runner's World forum and we would meet up with a bunch of people for a premiere of "Spirit of the Marathon," a documentary following 4-5 runners, including Deena Kastor, leading up to the 2005 edition of the Chicago Marathon. The movie wasn't that great and it leaned toward the sappyness factor. Afterward was the Q&A session, and I thought it was quite odd that most of the audience just left. I was about to, but I felt kind of bad. But then again it was about 10:30PM and it was well past our bedtime.
Marathon expo was amazing, on par with NYC Marathon expo. New Balance had these models serving as manuquins striking poses 20 minutes at a time to display their products; a woman was in a running stride position and a guy was sitting on the staging area holding his laces as if tying his shoes. Hilarious. I also met Khalid Khannouchi who set the course record in 2:05. But I was glad I disciplined myself to no more than 3 hours. Didn't matter anyway...I would end up walking to various places throughout the weekend. The buses to and from the expo did take a long time, however.Places recommended to eat include Edwardo's for pasta and deep dish pizza. I didn't really eat anywhere else besides Subway. But Chicago had a lot of places I wanted to try out...just not before the marathon.

Race

I got up a quarter after 4am and got ready. Even though I was two blocks from the start, I wasn't going to leave it up to chance and have things not turn my way. After all, the weather was going to be killer...why add an additional factor to make my day go worse? I get to the starting area around 6am after waiting at the hostel till game time. It was amazing to see so many runners and volunteers so early in the morning. The corral system was in effect and my seeded area in the B corral was pretty close to the start. I kept reminding myself to drink the Gatorade I would later carry up to mile 5-6 and go no faster than the 3:20 pacer. Not a problem, but what I think happened was that the 3:20 pacer dropped out early on. I didn't see him after mile 4, and I remember hovering close to him or slightly ahead of him. Sitting in the coral before the start, the announcements on the loudspeakers would consistently tell runners to hydrate in response to unseasonal weather.
Before I go on, I would like to elaborate from my experience that the organizers did a pretty good job with aid/Gatorade stops. Now, I'm wasn't expecting to run a 4-6 hour marathon so I couldn't tell you if it was any worse, but from what I've read or heard it must have been bad. But I hardly could blame all of it upon the marathon organizers. Some marathoners are retarded. Coming from San Francisco, I did everything I could leading up to and during the marathon preparing for the heat as much as I could. Mind you, I haven't acclimated to 30-35 degree difference. But you have to be smart. If you're suffering from dehydration, slow down or stop. Yeah, the water/Gatorade ran out...so? You should come out to the SF Marathon when water ran out a few years back and it was only 70 degrees. People bitched and complained too, although I can understand the severity at Chicago. At first, I would criticize the slow 5-6 hour marathon runners, but then there were sub-3 runners who didn't heed well to the advice.
Moving on...The start went without a hitch. Thank god, for Chicago and the corraling system! It worked, I didn't have Team in Training walking in front of me. Everyone went at the same speed and keeping up with the pace leader wasn't bad. People were in the same mind set and were good about running at a good clip. Miles ticked by really quickly in the first half, and for some reason it went by even faster during the second half too (strange). I can tell you that the downtown Loop area is NOT flat. The bridges had a slight incline, but it broke my rhythm just a tiny bit. But the best part of this section (as well as the entire course) was the amount of spectators on course. I especially loved Chinatown, Old Town, Pilsen, and the International Mile placed at mile 24. The Loop was cool with the crowds, but I loved the shade more than anything else. Around mile 12, my bladder was killing me so I had to make a stop at the porto-john. Ugh...long, training run as planned, right? I must have lost 2-4 minutes with all that pee I had to lose. But whatever. This was one of God's way of kicking me in the pants and saying, "Hey kid, I own you." It was also another way of being thoroughly convinced that finishing a marathon, especially this one is a true achievement. By now, and later I would find out, that the temperature has risen my 10 degrees within the last hour. I started to now walk a lot from mile 15 to mile 26. Pace groups from 3:30 down to 3:45 went by in the second half of the course. If the 4 hour pace group went by, that would be the death of me. Miles 15-17 was my downtime, even though the crowds remained in high spirits. But Pilsen at 19 and definitely Chinatown at 21 really brought life into me, even though I was still shuffling my feet and grabbing ice cubes from spectators. Not even a block later, the ice melted. Once I got into Bronzeville and started to inch my way north, I knew I was close to the finish. I wanted to run faster which I did, but I also paid a price with some more walking. Then I saw a juggler. No f***ing way he was going to beat me to the line! Toward the second half, I saw more people on the ground being support by EMT and spectators; this was more so toward miles 25 to the end. Midway through mile 25, I had no idea why cops and EMT were yelling at the runners to stop now and walk the Roosevelt Bridge. Before mile 26, I f'ed their advice and sprinted my way up the overpass. I even made a weird gesture to show that I still had something left by handing out my Powergel to the crowds. They couldn't grab a hold of it fast enough so I threw it along the side of the road. I heard someone say, "He's got a lot of energy left!" Damn straight! The time was going to be close and the clock just kept ticking by. I reminded myself that it took at least 90 seconds to cross the start line, so the chip should account for that. I made it through in 3:58, and I think I beat the juggler. It was a little upsetting to consistently readjust time goals. But Chicago Marathon remains very special/memorable to me because of its diffculty. The marathon makes a man out of you. People complain about how hard it was in Chicago...duh. Expect the marathon to be hard in any condition...you're supposed to be prepared for anything rain or shine, flat or hilly, etc. Just realize that a Boston qualifier or a PR doesn't happen all the time; I should know this too much. The irony is that many flock to Chicago because of the "easy" and flat course only to be disappointed by the harsh, hot and humid conditions thrown at them. I'm satisfied, even though it's got to be one of my worst finishing times. But I'm even more happy to report that I'm one of the ~24,900 that actually finished out of a possible 45,000.

Oh yeah, I signed up for Cal International in December...I'm so stoked about it. After Chicago Marathon, mortals can run virtually any other marathon and should not bitch about anything else.

Epilogue

I went to the post-race party where I found out about 12,000 runners were not allowed to finish because the race was cancelled starting from the halfway point after 3 hours. They claim that water/Gatorade was in short supply and people were unconscious. In my opinion, the organizers planned as much as they could. But still people were left complaining as if they were hit hard by Hurricane Katrina...not even close, people. There were buses that had A/C on to cool anyone down. I understand the water issue...that sucks though. Also people are also complaining about the race organizer, Carey Pinkowski, cancelling the race. I would too if 300 people went to the hospital and the temperature rose above 90, as I read from a digital sign before hitting mile 23. Perhaps the race should've started at 6:30 or 7AM; I think that would've been a reasonable action, but then again runners might complain about the change of start time. Honestly, you can't please anyone, and how can you? As race director, one has to make difficult choices and it's not usually the one the majority sides (AKA Prez Bush). The post race party was not bad, given that they had a recording of the live race on a large projection screen. The race should've been hightened by the elite race. It was the best race I have seen in any marathon within the last 3 years! The elite men completed within 5/100ths of a second, distinguishing between first and second place with a sprint finish. The elite women's race was decided on the last 500 meters when the "winner" (in her first marathon!!) started to wave at the spectators and at one point high five the crowd. Then she noticed that the former 10,000 meter former champion, Adere, sprinted by her and lost the race. Even the wheelchair race was decided by one second. It's funny that the Chicago Marathon was supposed to go down as one of the most memorable in history. But clearly, it wasn't one that the organizers want to remember from the flack the media and runners are making it out to be. One should focus on the elite races...awesome. What a great day...and this marathon will stand out in my mind for many, many years!


UPDATE: If you don't believe me about the juggler in my post, here's the link to his blog: http://justyouraveragejoggler.com/chicago-marathon-a-joggling-race-report-part-1/
What an amazing guy...but I beat his ass on the line by one minute! haha