Chicago Marathon - RunMarathon

We lined as close to the 4 hour pace group as we could get. The pace groups line up with the general population so it was tough to get up close with them. It took about 12 minutes to cross the start mat after the gun went off. I was kind of surprised by this, I had really expected close to 20 minutes or more. The first mile was basically through a tunnel and in between some tall buildings. It didn't take long to realize that this was going to be tough. With all these people basically moving as one giant omeba (sp?) there was little air and a lot of humidity.

After the first turn about a mile in, things started to open up to a point where, for the most part, a decent pace could be maintained. The first 5 or 6 miles went by fairly quickly and I was comfortably pushed by the pace, which at this point was right about 9 min/mile. We should be ok for this to reach our goal of 4 hours. By mile 8 the temp and humidity was starting to take its toll. Mike had to back off and we had agreed to try and stay together today as we both felt we needed each other to push the entire distance. As we were running along we would set mini-goals that we felt would help us in the end. The first mini goal was to beat "testical man". This poor guy was running in a testical suit to promote mens health. We passed him and never saw him again!

At about mile 10, Mike was really struggling. The rest of the group had already moved on. Mike was having some tingling in his arms and needed to walk. I walked with him for a couple of hundred feet and he was encouraging me to go on without him. He said he was going to try the walk run contigency plan and if he didn't improve, he would hit the med tent at the next water stop. So off I went.

At the half way point I was still feeling good considering the conditions. I had my hydration belt, I was getting the gatorade and water at the stations without any problems. I was still hitting the 35 - 40 minute gel plan without issue. My 13.1 time was 2:13:06, so I was still hopeful of a sub 4:30:00 time.

The humidity and heat continued to climb, but the various neighborhoods kept the entertainment and distraction level high. But it was tough to ignore the growing number of walkers and the poor souls down in the street and at the med tents. Somewhere about mile 14 or 15 a guy came running back at us screaming and flailing his arms. He was screaming spanish and the first thing that crossed my mind was that the heat had caused him to blow a gasket and lose his mind, but it turned out that he was told his wife was down behind us and he was trying to get back to her.

I continued to press on, trying to stay on the shady side of the street and out of the sun as much as possible. With Mike gone I was wishing I had brought my Ipod. Miles 16 to 20 are kind of thin as far as the crowds and entertainment. The male cheerleaders and bands stick pretty much to the downtown areas so this was a tough section.

By this point I was struggling, but no more than I really had expected to this far into the race. I was walking the water stops and drinking 2 glasses of gatorade, using a 3rd to fill my hydration bottles. I would also take in one cup of water and dump one over my head. This is also where I turned into Chinatown and the cheering crowds were awesome! Really a kick in the pants that I needed! But this is also where the number of down runners were really starting to pile up. The med tents were overflowing and the medical staff was all over trying to get to people down in the streets. We were also in an area that was lacking tall buildings so there was little help in staying out of the sun. I thought I was right behind the 4:30 pace group, and I still think I was, but the 35K pace from the website would indicate I was on pace for a 4:50 time. I don't know if they were struggling or the mat time was wrong, but I think the pace group was behind.

35K! This is where things went to hell! I cross the mat and nothing. No chirping from the runners crossing, the clock is off and there are police and water stop captains are in the street telling us to walk that the race has been cancelled! 5 miles left in a 26 mile race and they are cancelling it? They are telling us that the med staff is overwhelmed, it is unsafe to run and to walk or wait for the busses! I don't think so! I am still going to finish, I didn't spend the last 10 months training to give up this far in. But it got tough from here.

I read somewhere that during long runs you should practice walking the water stops. Basically train the muscles to start up after walking when they are fatigued! I think this is great advice in hindsite. It was getting tougher to get going and the walking got longer but I kept going. By this point, the number of people still running was few. If you wanted to run you had to weave in and out of the walkers, not to mention the race officials, cops and firemen trying to get people to walk. Combine this with my aching hips and ankles and the walking started exceed the running.

The last 2 miles is down Michigan Ave, a fairly wide road with a lot of room. There are now helicopters overhead telling us the race is cancelled, walk don't run. I am mostly walking at this point, disgusted with about everything but still moving. About a mile from the end, my wing man returns! Mike had walked/ran himself back into the race and caught me! I have my hydration belt over my shoulder, I'm tired of dodging the walkers, and am just walking when all of a sudden I get a slap on the back with a "c'mon, lets run this in!" So we ran the last mile together just as we had planned. Connie, my sister and their girls are on the last stretch waiting for us (later I learn they were close to heading to the med tent to find us, we were an hour late after all).

Mike and I cross the line together, got our medals, and a warm drink. We were finished.

I wish I knew! In the goodie bag they gave us at the expo was a magazine for the local Chicago running scene. They had an article about adjusting race day strategy and being flexible in case things fall apart or change. I was thinking towards the end that this was very appropriate.

Without the benefit of a "normal" race day, I can think of a couple of things I could have done differantly in training. First, I did miss one long run from my training plan, I should have found a way to get this in. Second, I think I would stretch the 20 week plan to a 24 week plan and add in 2 additional long runs and 2 recovery weeks.

Nutrition wise I was on the money. Even with the heat and humidity I never felt cramps or any of the effects of dehydration. Up to the 23 mile mark I was still taking the gels on schedule. Thanks to rstocks advice last week, I shortened the time in between gels and I think this was a big boost (thanks Bob!).

Overall, I learned a lot. Things that will help me get through the marathon at IMLP.

We walked around and found the rest of the group, plus the one who was not planning on running with us because he is much more experienced and typically runs in the 3 to 3:15 range. He finished at 4:10! We made plans to meet up again after a rest and a shower.


Heat, humidity, and lack of experience. I think I could still use to lose another 15 or 20 pounds to take some of the pounding off the joints. The ankle and hip soreness is not new, I experienced this in most of my long runs. But generally it went away the second or third time at a particular distance, which is why I think a couple of additional weeks with some more long runs and recovery weeks would have helped.

The other thing at the end that I need to remember to avoid is the garden hoses and fire hydrants. I had the same problem at the Boilermaker with my shoes getting wet and heavy. I sweat enough without the added water weight this adds.


The marathon organizers are taking a lot of heat for the chaos that this became. I guess because of the heat and the early runners drinking more and dumping more water over their heads, the later runners were not getting enough. I never went through a water stop where I couldn't what I needed, but it was obvious the volunteers were working their asses off to keep up. The volunteers were great, even at the end they kept encouraging us.

I still want a mulligan, just not today!