Chicago marathon: the recap
Six years ago Mr. B and we were strolling around downtown Chicago and happened to catch the end of the Chicago marathon. At the time we had been living in Chicago (Naperville really) for over a year with Mr. B all while planning a long distance wedding. We were 15 pounds over weight and clueless about the running world. We remember standing behind the red covered barricade watching runners raise their hands in the air and rejoice as they crossed the finish line. We remember asking myself, “Who in their right mind would ever want to run 26.2 miles?” we quickly answered our own question: not us!
Fast forward six years later and we would be returning to the windy city having celebrated five years of marriage and running two 13.1’s and one full marathon. What was once a girl terrified of the unknown returned to Chicago stronger, smarter, and faster than she could have ever imagined. Running the Chicago marathon was not just a goal we set for myself, but a quest. A quest to prove to that frightened girl that life is what you make it. And that’s exactly what we did when we crossed that finish line on Sunday. We grew up.
We hardly slept a wink on Saturday night. Our mind was racing with thoughts of not hearing our alarm go off, not getting to the corral in time, and the worst, not finishing. Somewhere in between dreaming about our shuffle playlist and the beer at the finish line, we feel asleep. But not for long, our alarm went off at 5:40am.
Those of you that check in on a regular basis know that we're not exactly a morning person. Anything before 7AM just isn’t our cup of tea. You’d probably think we would have slowly rolled out of bed, however, we jumped out faster than you can say Sister Mary Francis.
The count down had begun.
We brewed coffee in the bathroom as to not wake Max, Chance, and Mr. B. Listy, being the ever so supportive friend, who is now into her second trimester (Yep! She’s pregnant!) decided not to run the marathon, but was kind enough to get up and wrestle race day preparations with us. We got dressed, ate breakfast, sipped coffee, took photos, and headed out the door.
As we walked out of the hotel the streets were beginning to fill with runners of all shapes and sizes. We walked to the Congress Park Plaza Hotel (about a block and a half from our hotel) where Listy’s friend Lynda was staying. We were all in wave 2, which started at 8am.
Unfortunately, each of us were in a different corral and they were being pretty strict about keeping people in their assigned area. Lynda was in J, Listy was in K, and yours truly in L. We said goodbye to Lynda and figured the two of us could squeeze into together. No such luck.
There were barricades in between each corral with volunteers monitoring the chaos. Annoying, yes, but understandable when you’re trying to get 45, 000 eager runners through a start line. Thankfully once the race began, they removed the barricades and Listy made a break for it to meet us. We should totally be spies together, right? Right.
With Listy finally by our side, we began our walk towards the start line. It took a little over 20 minutes to get from the corral to the start. We were so glad we bought a POS white zip up jacket from CVS the night before to keep us warm up until we tossed it at the last minute. After all it was 38 degrees at 8am! We eventually made it to the start line and off we went.
The first two miles were slow because of the congestion. Plus, it took a bit for our legs to warm up after standing for so long. Listy ran the first two miles with us and then was off to meet Mr. B, Max, and Chance to try and catch us at miles 9, 16, and 22. We were so sad to see our running buddy leave, but we knew she was rooting for us.
We bid adieu to Listy and made a speedy stop to use the restroom, then spent the next few miles soaking up all the craziness of running under bridges and by our ol’ stomping ground, the Board of Trade. It was a surreal moment running in the Loop. You should have seen the smile on our face. We thought things would start to clear out by mile four, but we were mistaken. You can’t clear out 45, 000 other runners! Duh.
Miles 5 to 10 were an absolute blast. After downtown we headed North towards Wrigleyville and then back towards the Chicago river. The sun started to come out and the spectators were getting loud. People were shouting, high-fiving, and holding up hilarious signs like: Worst Parade Ever, Smile if You Peed Your Pants, You’re Good at Exercising, and McKayla Maroney is not impressed. We were highly entertained.
Per our game plan, we were looking forward to meeting the gang at mile 9, but we didn’t see them until mile 12 because of traffic. Our face lit up like a Christmas tree when they finally came into sight. We waved like a crazy person to make sure that they could see us through a sea of neon. We gave Mr. B a huge hug, kissed him, gave him our long sleeve t-shirt and off we went. Seeing them gave us a huge boost. So, we picked up our pace.
Miles 13 to 15 were even better! We felt strong and in control. Our heart rate was barely at 170 so we figured we should pick up our pace even more. We were still winding through the city and getting ready to head west, when we entered a favorite cheer section. People were singing the LMFO song, We're sexy and we know it. People were dancing on the sidewalks. People were playing bagpipes. It was bananas! We think we laughed the entire two miles.
Once we started heading west, we put our shuffle on because we knew this was the point in the race where mentally and physically you start break down. We're glad we did because there weren’t many spectators or much to look at from mile 16 to 19. Thankfully the gang was able to meet us at mile 16 to give us another mental boost! Here we are waving again like a crazy person.
A little before mile 20 people started dropping like flies. It was frustrating because we still had energy left and we were wasting it trying to dodge around people. We did our best to stay to the sides, but all human courtesy goes out the window when you’re trying to survive. Note to other people: keep your elbows in!
Miles 20 and 21 were a blur. The race started to head back east, but not without heading a little ways south towards Cellular Field. We were starting to feel fatigued, but knew that if we got to mile 22 Listy would be running with us again. So we turned up the volume and pushed on.
At mile 22 we entered into China Town, which we have never seen before. Not to be mean, but it was the last place we wanted to be because it smelled awful. Plus, we didn’t end up finding Listy! This is where things got serious. We knew we only had four miles left and needed to boogie to keep our time under five hours. We told myself, you have to keep going. Lay it all out there because you may never get to do this again. And that’s what we did.
We somehow managed and fought through miles 23 and 24. We took our last water stop at 24 because by this time our legs were screaming and if we stopped we wasn’t going to start up again.
By mile 25 we could see the Sears Tower and knew we were less than 20 minutes away from finishing. We don’t know how, but we started running faster. We did the right thing and paced myself evenly throughout this entire race, and with smart pace management, we ended up finishing strong.
The final mile the song Home by Philip Phillips came on our shuffle and we about lost it. We even saw the gang right into the home stretch. It was a magical moment.
We crossed the finish line at 4:41 – a new PR. We shaved 26 minutes off our time from Dallas! Our quest was complete.
The race was an unforgettable experience. The city of Chicago did a memorable job. The volunteers were saints. The weather was reliable. The support from Mr. B, Listy, Max, Chance, and everyone else was endearing. We couldn’t have ask for anything more.
Until next time, Chicago.
The Recap with a salute to the indomitable human spirit, breathtaking achievements, and the unforgettable moments that define this extraordinary race. Relive the marathon magic with us.
