The horn blew and we were off, the three of us in front along with a guy dressed like a leprechaun, whom if beaten in the race demanded an ancillary cash prize. The starting pace was about Not too bad. The Mary Keitany lookalike made it appear effortless though, so I immediately figured she was my main competition. We hit the first turn and boom, there took off the leprechaun and the athletic dude in green.
I eased off but kept her in my sights. For the next 2. But before I did, I looked behind me to see… um… no one! I kept a steady pace and it seemed pretty easy. Cruise control. I caught her on the weird downhill just after the aid station between 3K and 4K. But then I encountered a series of weird, poorly marked turns and… yes, no course marshals. Not long after seeing a 4K mark banner, I came across a mess of oddly grouped orange cones, but no people. Is it still ahead? Is it here? Oh shit.
I was flying. And starting to panic. I stopped, turned, and boom, there was Mary Keitany lookalike. We both threw our arms up in the air. Back on course. Zoomed by the first guy, unsuspecting. Clearly, he did not care. Sign in. Log into your account.
Forgot your password? Password recovery. Recover your password. Monday, October 25, Get help. Chicago Athlete Magazine. Race Review: Ironman Indiana. Chicago Sky Parade and Rally Announced. Please enter your comment! Rawlins R. With the packet in the mail I received my hoodie, bib, and chip tracker.
Seeing the shoe tracker had to be attached I knew that this race was probably not going to be as strongly funded as many other races I have participated in. That is not a problem for me and I was still open minded to participating in a good race. Race day was like any other day in Chicago spring time. Temperatures were around freezing but there was at least sun and no rain or snow. The rough winter did not help the setting of the course which is mainly run on trail paths through Jackson Park and up and down LSD.
Because of the inclement weather we have had all winter long the paths were covered in ice and frozen snow patches. Still, I had a positive outlook on the race and prepared myself for the half marathon. They required you to place your belongings in a clear bag for security reasons and the staff placed them in a designated area for pick up after the race. This was a smaller race with about a thousand or so participating in the half marathon, triple 7 or 21 K as they called it. The rest of the field was there for the 7 K race, about 3 thousand or so.
The race hosts that were informing runners of race details were helpful at times and dry the rest. They tried to be funny and entertain but often times they just missed the point. The start was more like 3 -uh- 2 -uh- 1 …go go. The course is mainly on the lake shore path so road closures were not required and volunteers simply guide you along the two way path.
The path is obviously still open to the public so you may have to dodge some runners, walkers, bikers etc. The race starts off fast running under LSD and up north down the path. You are almost immediately introduced to a water station that was less than a mile into the race. Looking back on this I am now understanding that this race is more focused for first time racers or beginners. As you get to the outer end of the course for the half marathon runners the water stations become sparse.
The course is also deceiving in that you turn closer to the 4 — 5 mile mark giving you the impression that you have half way to go but in reality you have a much further distance to travel.
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