Prairie State Half, Chicago

When I found out I had to go to Chicago for a business conference, the first

 thing I did was check the schedule of the conference and noticed half a

 day was free and on a Saturday. I looked up trail runs or other runs

what were being held at that time. There was an abundance of 5 or

10km events but didn’t really appeal to me considering the short

distance.

I found the Prairie state which offered a half marathon and was outside

Chicago and only an hour drive away. I checked the course and the

timings and then went ahead and booked my spot. This was a road run with

 only about 500 meters off road. All the races I have done before have

been in mountains and on trails so this was going to be something

different where I would need to keep running constantly with no hills or

 steps to stop or slow me down.

I prepared for this by doing Mac 1 repeats which from my house to East

dam and back again was just over 21km. Perfect half marathon distance

but with hills. Also took on board the zodiac challenge by Bravera and

Gone Running to also improve my flat road pace. My coach, Casey Morgan

gave me some great pointers and a training schedule.

Arrived in Chicago via Dallas after almost 24 hours travelling and on

the Thursday night took a 10km run along the Chicago waterfront which

was amazing (and flat). Temperature was around 17c which was a huge

difference from the 30 odd degrees 3 days before in Hong Kong.

The night before I stuck to a vegan diet and no booze. Luckily the

jetlag was doing me a favour as I was wide awake at 4am. Collected my

hire car and drove off to get to Long Grove where the start point was

and wanted to get there on time with no rush.

Arrived at Long Grove around 7am and collected my bib and race shirt. The cold

was the first thing I noticed. It was 8c and I had no winter clothing so

 waited in the car till 20 mins before start time to keep warm and then

made my way down whilst doing a few stretches. At the start line people

were already beginning to assemble and also there was a number of pacers

 holding signs of pace and finish time. Now as everything was in minute

miles, I had no idea where I would be and to be honest, I have never ran

 more than 10km non-stop without a minutes walking rest. I just thought

as long as I can get 2 hours I would be more than happy. I hung back

around 2/3 of the way from the front as I was expecting a lot of fast

flat runners.

Just before the start they played the national anthem and halfway through I

noticed I still had my T8 hat on and quickly took it off.

Countdown from 10 and then we were off although it took a minute to get

through the start line as there was around 1500 people (the 10km

 started at same time). At last got on to the open road and we ran

through the centre of the small town of Long Grove which is very

picturesque especially with all the Halloween decorations out. The pace

of the people around me was pretty slow, so without getting to carried

away or making any crazy turns, I slowly passed people and noticed the

pacers with their signs. I was with the 2 hour 20 pacer. I needed to get

 ahead so slowly picked off the pacers that were for every 10 mins and

by the first left hand turn, I was past the 1 hour 50 pacer. There were

fewer people here now so settled down and tried to just concentrate on

the shoes in front of me and zone out.

At the 3 mile stage we looped back and headed back into town and was

feeling good so decided to start picking people off one by one. This is

when I came across the first water stop. I had brought a collapsible cup

 to fill with water and a 500ml flask in my T8 shorts. Then I

noticed paper cups of water were being handed out and people quickly

drank and threw the cup on the side. Something I have never seen in a

trail race but the volunteers were picking up all the discarded cups

later.

Heading back into town and just before returning to the start point, we did a

hard right and this is where the 5k racers left us. People were sat

outside in their deck chairs in gardens or on the back of pick-up trucks

 with signs to cheer people on. This was great and gave a good boost.

Next turn was on to a gravel track but this only lasted for around 200

meters before being on the road again. Then it was running on the road

through the suburbs. Except these suburbs were large house with very

large front gardens. The road was coned so traffic was on one side and

runners on the other but there was next to no traffic. The police were

with their cars with lights flashing at almost every corner and junction

 and cheering us on. I wasn’t really looking at my pace but was trying to

 get the demons of settle back and walk as I saw others in front of me

do. This is when I picked off the 1 hour 40 pacer. I took a gel which

was a sickly tube of banana toffee or something. I then tried to zone

out on another pair of shoes in front of me and keep the same pace. Now

we was running through a very swank housing estate next to a country club

 and these houses were the huge mansions with swimming pools except all

view able as no private fences or hedges. This was a run around the

estate and double back and before entering their was a huge inflatable

half way point we ran under. My legs were getting tired now and my pace

slowed as the 1:40 pacer passed me. I didnt let this bug me as I was

aiming for 2 hours and at the next water point I stopped and drank the

water and gatorade so it wouldn’t slop down my face whilst running. I

think I stopped for a total of 30 seconds then trotted off again noting

who had passed me. I settled down for the return leg and now legs

getting more tired and felt a hot spot under the ball of my left foot.

One guy I saw ahead of me who had been around me for the entire time

stopped to a walk about 100 meters ahead of me so as I passed him I told

 him to keep it going, he started running again alongside me and had a

chat and noticed he was a fellow Brit from Watford. By now I noticed

that there was only 5km to go which meant 25 minutes at my pace. After a

 3-4 minute chat they fellow Brit said he needed to ease back so I left

him as I wanted to try and increase my pace. The thought of the last 5k

gave me a bit more energy and started to pick off people again and was

encouraging to see familiar landmarks which I had passed earlier so I

knew how much further which spurred me on a bit more but then there was a

 junction where we had to run down a road for 150 meters then loop back.

 Seemed odd but it was to get the correct distance.

The hot spot in my foot was really getting to me but put to the back off my

mind as more people on the side of the streets were cheering us on as we

 got closer to the finish line. I gave it all but with no one in front

of me to focus on, I just had to hear the steps behind me to keep me

moving and not let the person pass me. Got back in to the center of Long

 Grove and now lots of people cheering and doing the whoop whoop thing

and there it was, the finish line. Over the line I went and looked at my

 time. 1 hour 50. pace was 5:18. I had done it! I have now ran non stop

apart from one 30 second mooch at a water station. I collected my medal,

 got given a box of water, took a couple of photos then decided to pass

on the beer and return to my car for the drive back to Chicago.I wore my

 newly purchased Hoke Cliftons which had about 150km in them. Drymax

socks, T8 sherpa shorts, T8 cotton shirt (it was cold so not much

sweat), Naked waist belt and a Scott wind shell jacket. A very well

organised race going through some upper class suburbs and the historic

small town of Long Grove. This event is in its 10th year so if you are

around Chicago around the first week of October, I would recommend

checking it out.

Now I know I can run non stop for a good distance, I hope I can transfer

 this back on to the trails. I did enjoy my first road race but the

trails are definitely more preferred for me.

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