Chicago Marathon Recap

Our bus route

Part of the race experience is going to the expo.  There were busses going to McCormick Place, the expo location, from the Hilton next door to our hotel which made things easier, or so we thought...

The route down to the expo was 2 miles south (and a little east) of the hotel.  After 10 or so minutes we got to McCormick Place and could see all of the happy runners walking away from the building.  The driver made a left and then another left and the next thing we knew we were on an access road next to the train tracks with no way to exit.  Soon we were passing up Soldier Field, the parks, and crossing the river! We ended up going 4 miles north of the expo and turning around after what seems liked forever, and finally heading south again.  We passed our hotel and he finally managed to get us there the second time around.  I did mention this was his TENTH time making a run to the expo!

I guess we should have just walked....

I didn't want to spend too much time at the expo but I didn't want to miss out on any cool, free stuff.  

Suzy spotted the beer bus

the course

I had to go to the Nike booth to buy some official marathon gear and then pick up my awesome Team Paws fundraising prize!

If I'm going to run that far I had to buy the gear

So nice!

I also got my Nine Lives Top Fundraising singlet.  The night before the race I got my outfit and gear ready so I wouldn't forget anything in the early morning hours.

Sunday morning we were supposed to get to Charity Village by 6 am so everyone from Team Paws could walk to the start corrals together.  I thought this sound kind of early since my corral didn't start until 8 am, but I wanted to be with the team so I set my alarm for 4:30 am.  I ended up waking up around 3 or so and couldn't get back to sleep, but still felt well rested since I went to bed around 8:30.  The temperature was around 47 F with the high expected to be in the 50s, which was great.

Charity village was so nice.  We had our own port potties with no lines!  The Team Paws tent was heated and stocked with drinks and food.  We also had our own bag check.   I got my stuff organized, check my bag, and had some water and snacks.  I also got to see my Team Shepherd, Kristina, and also Laura, who I met at the Pawsta party.  

Cute decorations!

Kristina and I

Soon it was time to head to the corrals.  We still had quite a bit of time to wait for the start, which got a little cold, but it was a beautiful morning.

View from my corral

Soon it was my time to run...

The crowd support was amazing!  There were so many people along most of the course and it made the race so much better, well until everything fell apart for me and then it didn't really matter (more on that later).  I had promised the people that had sponsored each mile of my race a photo of their mile showing how happy (but mostly miserable) I was and I am going to share them here.  I hope everyone enjoys how great I look in these photos!

Mile 1

Mile 1 was great because it was only mile 1 and there were a ton of people.

Mile 1 (Andrew)

Miles 2

Still great!  Got to run by the Chicago Theater.

Mile 2 (Cari)

Miles 3 and 4

So happy!  Man I was stupid to think it would last.

Mile 3 (Ana)

Mile 4 (Rita)

Miles 5 and 6

Parts of these miles were not enjoyable because it was really sunny, but I did get to see Garrett.  Lincoln Park was very pretty with the leaves starting to change.  There was one annoyance during these miles that continued for many miles afterwards: pizza and hot dog... 

Hi Garrett!

It gets old hearing everyone yell pizza and hot dog

Mile 5 (Craig)

Mile 6 (Renee)

Miles 7-9 

More time in the sun, but things got better once I was in the heart of Boystown (the gay neighborhood).  I head read that Boystown was very entertaining and it definitely did not disappoint.  Loved the cute guys dancing around at the water stations!

Mile 7 (Katie)

Mile 8 (Dana)

Some sort of baton throwing going on

Drag queens!

Mile 9 (Stephanie): yay Boystown!

Miles 10-12

Around here is when things started going downhill for me.  My left quad was hurting and then my lower back started aching.  On the up side, I did get to see Garrett and Kristen around this time so I was a little happier in the photos I took for miles 11 and 12.

Mile 10 (Trevor)

Mile 11 (Jeannie and Jerry)

Yay Garrett and Kristen!

Mile 12 (Garrett and Kristen!)

Miles 13-15

I had some happiness in these miles because I saw Suzy and ran into Laura from Team Paws and we ran together for a few miles.  Mile 14 was "Charity Mile" so Team Paws was out there cheering us on.  My time at the half way mark was 2:22, plenty of time time to finish in under 5 hours, but soon I realized that my body wasn't going to let that happen.  My legs felt like jelly by mile 14 and everything fell apart after that.

Mile 13 (Jessica)

Mile 14 (Laura and Chad)

Mile 15 (Hilary)

Miles 16-18 

These miles were rough, but I did get to see Garrett and Kristen again.  Another mental kick in the butt was the fact that at the mile 16 marker my watch read 16.52 miles.  Since it is impossible to run the tangents on a race course you are always going to run further than the measured distance, but it still sucks every time.  The one thing I was thinking at mile 16 was that I had 10 miles left to run.  This was the distance I ran 3 days after crashing and breaking my wrist, so if I could do that I could finish this stupid race.  You really do learn the most on your worst training runs.

I was really starting to curse the names of the people that sponsored me for these miles.  

16 + 0.52 miles (Anne and Jill)

17 miles (Adam and Zoe)

Here I am running over to Kristen and Garrett so I could tell
them how miserable I was.

Mile 18 (Noel and Diane)

Miles 19-22 

Misery is the best word to describe these miles.  I ran through Pilsen (little Mexico) and Chinatown and there was great crowd support, but I just could not enjoy it.  Garrett and Kristen said they wouldn't see me again until the finish but they knew how bad off I was and surprised me by showing up again at mile 20.  

Mile 19 (Shasta)

Mile 20 (Bruce)

So happy that Garrett and Kristen surprised me at mile 20!

Chinatown! 

 Coming into Chinatown

At least I tried to look happy!

Mile 21 (Ruth)

Mile 22 (Amy)

Miles 23-25

This is when I knew I could walk the rest of the way if I had to and make it to the finish line.  As we got closer to the finish line there were more and more spectators, which was great!  Suzy was at mile 23 waiting for me and then walked/ran with me until the cops kicked her off the course.  She showed up again somewhere around mile 24/25 and then Garrett and Kristen surprised me again by showing up around mile 25.  They really did help me get through the worst times of the race and I am so happy they were there.

Mile 23 (Suzy!)

Mile 24 (Nick, Charlie, and Endo)

Mile 25 (RJ and Jane)

Very serious near the finish

Mile 26.2 (Dad)

The final stretch.  The finish line so close you can hear it.  I was so happy that the race was about to be done and I could focus on not moving for awhile.

I did it!

Woo hoo!

I ended up running almost 26.95 miles but it was over!

  

  

 Next I got to go back to enjoy the spoils of the Team Paws tent in Charity Village.  There was chocolate milk, champagne, beer, pizza, and all kinds of snacks.  They also had physical therapists there to help stretch out your sore muscles.  So many great perks!  I have to give a huge thanks to Team Paws and my awesome friends for helping me get through this race and making it such a great experience (despite all the misery)!

I needed a lot of help getting up after this photo was taken

I love these guys!