It was a beautiful morning for an 8K! (That's 4.97 miles, for those of you not metrically minded.) I dashed out the door at 8:05 am, making it down to the start corrals on Columbus Drive in Grant Park at 9:01 am...exactly one minute after they closed the entrance to my start corral. So I pulled a little street-artist-evading-the-5-0 chainlink fence hopping action and managed to join the group of folks planning to finish in 50 to 55 minutes. I am so excited to report that I finished in 48 minutes and 16 seconds - a personal record for me for this course, and better than a 10 minute mile (9:43, to be exact)!
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| A small fraction of the crowd of runners just before the start! |
I know there are lots of runners who don't like really crowded races like this one (they had 40,000 people registered, and the results website says that 34,301 folks actually both started and finished). But the thing I really like is that races with lots of people bring out lots of spectators, and there are always a small subset of people that take their spectating duty very seriously. I love seeing folks with costumes, crazy noisemakers, and hilarious signs. The three signs that really made me grin (of which only one is, shall we say, appropriate) said "RUN, (total stranger), RUN!", "You look like you have stamina. Call me!", and "DO EPIC SHIT!"
Another fun thing about races is finding out what sort of snacks you get for free at the end of the race. Bananas are pretty much standard, but sometimes there are bagels, or chips, or pretzels - just depends on the race. Here is a handy graphic to help you understand today's options:
Yes, those are McDonaldland Cookies on the top right...I am sure I haven't had them for 20 years, but their lemony flavor instantly transported me to being a small child sitting on a hard plastic chair, doing the activities on the side of my Happy Meal box and waiting to go play in the ball pool in the Play Place. Good memories!
Almost the entire time I was running I was thinking about the Chicago Marathon (which is sponsored by the same company, has almost the same number of runners and finishes in the same spot) and getting nervous and excited about it, and imagining how I'll feel at the end of that race. Please, save the date: October 7, 2012! You've got to come out and cheer me and the other 44,999 runners on!
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| Feeling good at the finish! |
I think it goes a long way to explaining the existence, duration, and durability of our friendship that we were both the kind of children who actually did the activities on the sides of a Happy Meal box.
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