Soldier Field 10-mile

Statistics:
Distance: 10 miles
Time: 1:49:37


Race Recap:

I managed to get myself to bed early on Friday night despite being at a Beatles Rock Band party that was lots of fun. Good thing, though, because I had to wake up at 5:00 AM, which isn't easy. I ate a small breakfast, grabbed my stuff, and headed out to pick up my friend, Mel, who was also running. It was nice that there was a lot of parking at the stadium, because driving to the race was much easier than taking the CTA and walking a mile from the Roosevelt station.

Got to the stadium at about 6:15 (race started at 7:30) so I had some time to look around. This was actually my first time to Soldier Field. Seemed appropriate I was visiting there on Memorial Day weekend.

I went inside the stadium and got this shot:

As you can see, they hadn't even hoisted the finish line apparatus yet. Thankfully, they seem to have finished it before the racers got there.

Finally it was time to line up in the start corrals. First of all, the weather was absolutely beautiful! Clear skies, temperature in the mid-60's, light breeze. So here I am waiting during the pre-race program. There was a nice bit honoring our soldiers on Memorial Day weekend, and a really beautiful playing of Taps by two bugles, that felt particularly poignant this morning.

Eventually, it was race time, and the first two start corrals were sent off. We in the open corral started out shamble to the start line. Eventually I reach the start line and the race is off!

There was no timer visible at the start line, so when I got to mile 1, the clock read 28:30 but I had no idea what my first mile split was. Thankfully, I'd started my gps tracker right at the start, and it said I'd been running for 11:30. That was slower than I wanted to be running (I estimated somewhere between 10:30 and 11-minute miles) but at the start, it's so crowded that I basically had to go at whatever pace the crowd would let me.

Then I hit the first water/Gatorade station, and that was kind of annoying as well. There were not enough tables, or the volunteers weren't fast enough at refilling cups, so I had to wait about half a minute to get a cup of Gatorade. The Shamrock Shuffle didn't have this problem despite having over twice as many runners.

Generally, the first two miles of the race were a little taxing, as it always seems to take a couple miles for my body to start delivering energy to my legs at the rate they require. Thankfully by mile 3, I was back to feeling good, and was basically in cruise control, just enjoying the nice weather. Then, amazingly, I started seeing the front-runners on their return trip, so I thought I'd grab a shot.

Pretty great shot for a camera phone taking a picture while I'm running, don't you think? (OK, I slowed to a walk to grab the shot...)

Anyway, that's basically the way it went for the next few miles. I hit the turn-around point in another couple miles, still feeling good. There was a guy there with a mic and a sound system shouting encouragement to the racers, and they were playing Chelsea Dagger, the song that the Chicago Blackhawks always play when the Hawks score a goal, so that was a nice little pump-up moment.

Thankfully, the water stations got a bit less crowded on the back half of the race. I guess by then, the crowd was spread out more, so the cup-fillers could keep up. I was basically doing miles between 10:30 and 11:00, based on the timers I saw at the mile markers. I think I tended towards the 10:30 side in the middle miles, making up for the slow first mile and the time it was taking at the water stations.

Then I hit the 8-mile mark, which was significant because 8 miles was the farthest I'd ever run in a single stretch before. I guess my legs knew that, too, because that's when they started feeling a bit more tired. At that point, though, I didn't care because I knew that I was just 2 miles from the finish. I wasn't slowing down, I was just feeling it in my legs a bit. The temperature was climbing a bit, too, probably in the mid 70's at that point. There was a nice breeze off the lake, though. Really not uncomfortable at all. And then a little after the 8-mile mark I saw my friend, Fuzzy, and I ran with him for a little while. 

Then I hit mile 9 and I could easily see Soldier Field in front of me, which felt really great. I think I might have quickened my pace just a little bit. I didn't want to sprint it out and screw anything up, so I just kept cruising, but it definitely felt good to know I was almost done.

As we worked our way down the road  alongside the stadium, two things happened. One, I saw some finishers walking around, and they had medals around their necks. I didn't know we were getting medals! I was excited about that. And then I heard the following announcement on the loudspeakers: Attention racers, the course is now closed. The course warning system is now at Condition: Black. Please stop running, and walk through the finish.

BULL...SHIT! If they were going to stop me from running through to the finish, they were gonna have to tackle me. Nobody that I saw stopped running, not while we were right alongside the stadium. I thought it was a pretty bad over-reaction. If running at 75 degrees with moderate humidity and a nice breeze are race-closing conditions, nobody in New Orleans would ever get to run! I'm curious to know if there was something more to it, but if it was just concerns about heat, then it was really a bad overreaction.

That silliness aside, I soon turned left and entered the belly of the stadium. Then, one more left turn and I could see the field from the tunnel. Then before I knew it, I was on the grass of Soldier Field, and the stadium loudspeakers were playing "Sweet Home Chicago", which was an awesome song to hear, coming home to the finish.

And then I was done! According to the chip timer, I finished in 1:49:38, which is just a hair under 11 minutes per mile. That's just about what I figured. I think without the delays of the crowd and the water stations, I could have done a 10:30 pace without a problem. But all in all, I was satisfied with my time and the way I felt at the end of the race.

Walking through the finish area, I picked up one of these beauties:

I wore it all day! :)