My wife and I went to the XSport Health and Fitness Expo on Friday to pick up my race packet and I immediately hit a snag. Some how I was put into the first corral. Now I like to fancy myself a good runner but I am by no means a fast runner. The guy handing out the packets took one look at me and asked "how fast were you planning on running?" I replied that I was planning on about a 10 minute mile. He laughed and said I was gonna get killed in that corral. I laughed in return and told him I was just as surprised to be in the first corral. I walked over to the table for corral changes and the women there laughed as well.(good thing I have thick skin and can laugh at myself). I didn't have to change my official corral number but I did decide to move back to the 10th corral.
We walked around the expo for about an hour. It wasn't big as I expected but the venders and sponsors they had were all very good. I got to see all the medals that the Rock'n'Roll series has and I was impressed. I all so saw all the medals for the Disney World and Disney Land runs, and again was very impressed. I now have new goals on the horizon.
Anyway, the race itself started at 6:30 am on Sunday morning. The race was very well organized and they have water, bananas and bagels at the starting area for the runners. They were all so handing out salt packets because it was supposed to be a very warm day (pushing the mid 90's).
At the start, the first corral was allowed to go and there was around a minute wait in between each start. At the 10th corral I started about 7-10 minutes after the first. the course was well laid out and they had traffic management people at every intersection. There were a number of points along the way where they had band stands set up with live music for the runners. XSport Fitness all so had people out on th course cheering on the runners. there were water, cooling and aid stations every 1 1/2 miles as well as port-o-potties along the rout for the runners.
The course took the runners all around downtown Chicago as well as quite a distance west of the downtown area. Having lived in Chicago all my life, I was surprised to see neighborhoods I had never seen before. I was a little surprised at the number of spectators that came out to cheer on their runners. I thoroughly enjoyed reading a lot of the signs. One woman I saw at a few points along the way was holding a sign that read "Do Epic Shit". I liked that one. She had a bike with her and must have been riding ahead.
The best part was once we turned down Lake Shore Drive for the lat 2 miles of the race. The whole area was lined with spectators cheering people on. The Finish line was in Grant Park and by the time I finished, was filled with people. I crossed the finish line and immediately spotted the friends that I had come with. I made my way through the crowd picking up my finishers medal and a lot of free food and drinks. Gatorade, Chocolate milk, water, pretzels, fruit cup, banana, Jamba Juice and a towel soaked in ice water were a few of the things given to the finishers. I got my finishers photo taken and headed to the area to reunite with the spectators.
Since I had done the Muddy Buddy the day before, I qualified for the Rock'n'Mud Challenge Medal as well as a special lunch. I got the Medal and the "Special" lunch.(2 subway sandwiches). We walked around the vender area, picking up all the freebies, stretched and then headed home.
All in all, I would say the race was very well executed, the course was amazing with great scenery and support by race officials and spectators alike. All the runners that I saw were courteous of each other and would give words of encouragement to racers that needed it. I will definitely be running this race again next year and if possible, others in the Rock'n'Roll Half Marathon series in other cities. Well done Rock'n'Roll Marathon Series and XSport Fitness on a great race.
No comments:
Post a Comment