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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