Chicago Marathon

Listed by BlueWombat
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  • Rated 87%
  • 26.2mi
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Entrants (5)
Club		 PB SB Pred Time WAVA
davef 3 weeks after Kosica marathon!
Headington RoadRunners 		2:56:50 3:18:00 3:20:00 3:18:00 61.94
BlueWombat Well, it's high time to put finger to keyboard and write some notes about Chicago. I've had plenty of time to reflect now, and I enjoyed the race more than I thought I could. Travelling to/from the event was a bit of a nightmare. I had a one day meeting in Philadelphia on the Saturday that I had to be at, and planned everything else around that. So I flew overnight Thursday from San Francisco, arriving at Chicago O'Hare around 5:30 am Friday. I took the Blue Line downtown and found my way to Cereality, a cereal breakfast bar in the centre of Chicago, where I had arranged to meet up with some of the runnersworld forumites from the Chicago 2006 thread. Having ordered by porridge (sorry, oatmeal) and bananas I sat and waited, reading the US edition of Runners World (which is, by the way, far superior, with loads of interesting articles) realising how difficult it is to meet up with people you have never met before. Eventually
Cambridge & Coleridge AC, Cambridge University Hare & Hounds 		3:28:13 3:36:13 3:36:13 59.88
baz2
Dragons RC 		3:44:45 3:44:45 3:59:00 3:44:45 57.61
-caz- I'm sticking to Hal Higdon's intermediate training plan and aim to put the required mileage in this time without cutting corners. Aiming to break the 4h mark, prediction's are one thing....achieving them is another. Well I travelled to Chicago having had a torrid run up to the event. Four weeks of niggling injuries meant very little training, however that didn't dampen my spirits. I was wrapped up for the race due to the cold morning and I started comfortably putting in consistent 9min miles. I found the crowds pulled me along and their entusiastic support was overwhelming. I must also add that I found that placing your name on your t-shirt did encourage you to keep plodding away when the crowd spurred you on. I got to 13 miles and fealt really good considering my lack of training & recent injuries to knee & back. As we headed out west towards the United Centre I found myself starting to suffer from stomach cramp till I eventually found a port-a-loo that wasn't busy & I stopped for a comfort break at 16.5 miles. Once I got going again I kept it consistent & comfortable at approx 10min miles with a few exceptions slowing down to take on liquid in the closing 10 miles. I breezed up the small hill at the end and crossed the line a happy guy. I was a little annoyed with my time but considering my last marathon saw me get a time of 5h 08m I was well chuffed to put in a steady comfortable effort and not knock my pan in and still get 4h 36m 23s with a little more left in the tank as I did feel I could have continued running once over the finish. All in all, a good weekend in Chicago, what a lovely event, 'awesome' crowds to use a yank phrase & still managed to get to a NHL game & go up the Sears Tower. 5k - 0:31:26 10k - 1:01:31 (00:30:05) 15k - 1:32:10 (00:30:39) 20k - 2:03:07 (00:30:57) Half - 2:09:50 25k - 2:36:24 (00:33:17) 30k - 3:16:42 (00:40:18) 35k - 3:52:42 (00:36:00) 40k - 4:27:45 (00:35:03) Official Chip time - 4:41:32 Watch time - 4:36:23 *Watch time allowing for stop around 16.5 miles (comfort break)
Unaffiliated 		4:14:55 4:36:23 4:20:00 4:36:23 43.99
Fat Man Runs Slower than London but wow! Easily the best race I have ever done, largely due to the crowd, I just had a smile on my face from start to finish - even in that cold! This is my third marathon (two completed) and it's definitely the one to do, the city is amazing.
Unaffiliated 		4:42:42 4:42:42 4:58:37 40.76

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