Chicago Marathon - RunMarathon

Miles 1-6
I knew I was on the slower end of the runner's around me, being that I only made the A corral by 13 seconds. I started out a little too fast as a result but was able to pull it back to what seemed like a comfortable pace around the low mid 7 min range. This was faster than I planned but it felt good and manageable at the time.
1 - 6:58
2 - 6:58
3 - 7:16
4 - 7:20
5 - 7:20
6 - 7:31

Miles 7 - 13.1
Still feeling good at this point and felt like I had a legitimate shot for the 3:15 range. The last couple of miles for the first half are absolutely amazing. So many people downtown lining the streets and cheering. At this point I am still getting passed very frequently by corral A runners and starting to get passed by B runners. I hit the half at 1:36:10. Faster than ING and not far off the 3:10 PR goal. At this point I still felt like I could go negative and get under 3:10.
7 - 7:18
8 - 7:28
9 - 7:25
10 - 7:24
11 - 7:24
12 - 7:30
13 - 7:30

Miles 14 - 20
This is the section where the wheels started to come off. The first 2 miles I was slowed a little but still felt like I could finish strong. It was when I hit 16 that I realized my miles were not going to get faster and I was fading fast. My legs were about done and I still had 10 to go. The weather didn't help but I knew my low mileage in training was about to catch up to me. I ran my first 8+ mile at 18 and started to get really angry with myself. The next 2 were no different as I was unable to get back below an 8 min pace.
14 - 7:33
15 - 7:35
16 - 7:46
17 - 7:51
18 - 8:07
19 - 8:12
20 - 8:10

Miles 21-26.2
The wheels were off at this point. I was struggling to keep moving. I began walking through the water stops to ensure I was getting plenty of fluids down. The leg pain was getting worse. At mile 24 I starting cramping, first my left and then my right hamstring. I've never had this problem before and had even had more gatorade in this race than in prior races. The mile markers could not come fast enough as my splits were in the high 9 min range. Grabbed a beer of a table at mile 25 and carried it in with me. I was able to speed up and run the last mile as fast as I had since 22. The last 2/10 has the biggest hill on the course but I gutted it out and made the left turn for the stretch to the finish. Probably not the smartest thing to do but I popped open the beer just after finishing much to the amusement of the volunteers.
21 - 8:38
22 - 8:50
23 - 9:20
24 - 10:03
25 - 9:56
26 - 9:20

2 - 1:53

Lessons learned from this race:
1. Understand that weather plays an integral role in your time goals. Better to adjust your goals and come in 5-10 minutes slower than to go out like the weather isn't a factor and crash.
2. Your training doesn't lie. In every marathon I've managed to finish 30 seconds per mile faster than my long training runs pace. This race was not different as I never ran a sub 8 in training. Should have kept this in mind for the first half.


Started out a little slower (broken record) and drink more gatorade early. Once you're cramping it's too late.

Walked through the long finish area drinking beer and water. Medal, pictures, and free beer while I waited on Josh and Russ to finish.


I know the weather played a role in my time, but more than that my training was sub par for this race. Travel, injuries, and not making it a priority pushed my long runs to Sunday and Monday nights where they were not as effective and not taken as seriously as prior training.


Great marathon! Tons of volunteers, frequent aid stations, and good post race activities. They certainly improved on last year and were ready for the conditions.