Winning the Chicago Marathon

Yes, indeed! I won another marathon! This time I won the Chicago Marathon ~ ~ ~ I was the 27,084th winner that day. They say it is a huge marathon, one of the biggest in the world. I'm not so sure about that ~ it seems to me like it was 26.2 miles, just like the rest of them. Some people just like to make audacious claims. I did win, though.

I found out later that if I had only run three times faster, I would've won $100,000. Drat! So close! Why didn't I try harder?!

Maybe I was a little out of shape, from being on strike. A couple of weeks before, I had been protesting the hot weather we were having, when we should've been getting fall weather. The protest worked ~ after only a couple of days, the weather caved in to my demands, and I was out there running again.

I should have held out longer, though, so that I could have included Chicago in the negotiations. I didn't think I would have to. Last year, the Chicago Marathon was shut down early because of extreme heat and a shortage of water and Gatorade ~ hundreds of people were taken to the hospital, and one person died. I figured 2008 would be the year to run it, because things like that don't happen twice in a row, and even if there was another heat wave, the race organizers will have learned their lesson, and been prepared.

I was half right, my usual track record. As the marathon date approached, the weather forecast kept changing in a relentless and dastardly direction. As it turned out, it was almost as hot as last year, with the temperature at 11am around 84 degrees... but there was water and Gatorade galore! Even hose-showers, and sponges!

I talked with several runners who participated in the fiasco last year, and they said it was a living hell. That must have dissuaded many people from trying it again in this year's heat, because they had the highest number of no-shows ever. Of 45,000 runners all registered and paid for, only 33,000 showed up. That meant even more water and Gatorade for the rest of us.

I always love going to Chicago, because there is so much to do there. Of course, when you are there to run a marathon, you don't do much, because you need to conserve your energy before, and lie down in an exhausted heap afterward. But Audrey and I did go to the art museum. She is a college graduate in art history, so that's kind of a given. I didn't get to spend a lot of time there, but I did enjoy a couple of hours' worth of art, enough for a possible blog post in the near future.

After the museum, we got together with Ed, from Hawaii. I had known Ed online for about a year, so it was great to meet him in person. He eats at Subway almost every day, and has lost 70 or 80 lbs ~ incredible! I call him "The New Jared." So we met at a cute little sandwich shop across from the art museum ~ I told him "it is right next door to Subway!" I was only teasing, but guess what? He got his sandwich from Subway while we got ours at the other place. We had a nice lunch in the park.




Even though he refused to smile for the photo, we had a good time. During the marathon, I followed him for about six miles, and then I lost sight of him. According to the race results, he won, too! (The men's division, of course.)

Ed helped me find the expo, and it's a good thing! At this marathon, there is no race day packet pickup, and that always causes me some anxiety. I had to get there before it closed.

Because this marathon is such a big deal, they have to have a humongous expo. And because the expo is enormous, it has to be located in a convention center. That means you have to travel to get there, which takes time away from your sightseeing. They did provide shuttle buses, but we had to wait a long time to get on a school bus, and they packed us in like sardines. So transportation to and from the expo took a couple of hours. (Maybe I shouldn't have waited until the last minute?) I would have preferred to have no expo at all ~ just a storefront downtown where we could pick up our packets and have the rest of the day to explore Chicago. But that's not how these things work ~ the marathon was supported by lots of companies who needed a chance to sell things to us.

I don't have a lot of money, especially after all the expenses of this trip, but I did spend some at the expo. There was a booth for Marathon & Beyond magazine, and I bought myself a subscription. I have been buying this at the bookstore, but sometimes miss an issue. So I've been meaning to subscribe anyway.

So Marathon Day finally arrived, and I went to the back of the pack, to wait. I always start at the back, because I'm slow. It's better for me psychologically, if I pass other people, than if I start where I think I should start, and have people pass me.
There were a lot of people, and I expected to cross the Start Line about 30 minutes after the gun. It turned out to be about 23 minutes, thanks to the people who did not show up. It was fun to watch this guy juggle. I wonder if he juggled all the way through the marathon?




Because of the heat, I decided on a conservative strategy, and only hoped to finish in six hours. It reminded me of the inaugural Atlanta ING marathon, which I finished in 5:58. The temperature there was almost 90, and there were hills. I figured this one would be comparable, but without hills, so I had hope. I decided to use 3:1 run/walk intervals, and to take the running slow. I felt I could
probably maintain that throughout most of the event.

By mile 4, I really noticed the heat. Fortunately, the first half of the race had a lot of shade, provided by tall buildings. I also appreciated the mile markers ~ every mile was clearly marked with a couple of large signs, showing the time! I had to subtract 23 minutes for my time, since that is how long it took to get to the start line. They also had clocks at the 5k, 10k, 15k (etc.) marks, and at the half marathon point. I had my camera, so I took a picture of each mile marker, thinking I would analyze it later ~ I could find out how fast I took each mile. (I know my Garmin would probably do that, but I'm not advanced enough to figure out how yet!) When my camera battery died, I wrote down the numbers.

It was interesting to analyze. The numbers show that I ran most of the first 13 miles in 12-something. Miles 14, 15, and 16 were 13-something. This is right where we left the shady parts, and it was really starting to get hot. Then for miles 17 , 18, 19 & 20, I ran 13 and 14-something. I knew I was dragging. For the last six miles, it got easier in a way. It was still hard, because it was the last six miles. But we were getting close to the lake, and there was a breeze. I don't have the numbers for those miles, but according to my calculations, I averaged 13 1/2. Not bad, when you can pick up speed at the end of a marathon!

It was a crowded marathon, and to my surprise, it remained crowded to the end! I don't like that ~ I had to run this way and that way to get around people (and they had to do the same to get around me, I'm sure).

One of the sponsors of the event was Energizer. They were handing out Energizer bunny ears, and I saw a pair lying on the road, getting trampled. So I picked it up and put it on. It was like a foam rubber headband. A lot of the people in the crowd yelled "Go Bunny!" to me, so I wore them for the rest of the marathon. I think they gave me energy.

I liked the crowds of spectators. I think Obama was running right behind me, because I heard an awful lot of people shouting "Go Obama!" This is not the first time I have been running ahead of a Kenyan. (At the Maryville Country Classic, I run the half marathon. The full marathon course is the half marathon course twice. Usually, as I am crossing the finish line, the winner of the marathon is a couple of minutes behind me. So I'm used to it.)

I later caught up with him (or I should say, he caught up with me), in a store window, so we had our picture taken. He was not wearing his medal.


My favorite part of the course was Chinatown. There were two dancing dragons, and the people were cheering loudly and enthusiastically. It is amazing to me that spectators can have that much spirit, four hours into a marathon! This is also right about when the weather started cooling off (on account of the breeze from the lake), so I got some renewed energy as I ran through Chinatown.

Toward the end of the race, I noticed that one runner had on a shirt that said "I run because beer tastes so much better after 26.2 miles." That got me thinking about the free beer we would receive at the end, and gave me a little bit more motivation.

Overall, I feel very good about this marathon. My finish time was 5:47:30. Since I was not going to be surprised if I took over six hours, this was pretty good. I felt like I was still running fairly well at the end, even though it was very hot.

It took a long time to walk through the finisher chute. It started to catch up with me there ~ I was kind of wandering around in a daze. The race officials were being very cautious, after last year's trouble ~ a man walked up to me to ask me if I was alright. I said "Yes. Where's the beer?"