Rock N’ Roll Chicago Half Marathon, Chicago, Illinois, 7.17.2016
A spontaneous weekend getaway to Chicago with my girlfriends led me to quickly search for half marathons in the area. “Who knows when I’ll be back in Illinois?” I thought. Maybe I can check another state off the bucket list. As luck would have it, the Rock and Roll Chicago Half was taking place the weekend I was in town.
I had heard mixed reviews about the Rock and Roll Series; some people swear by it while others claim it’s not worth the money. I have only positive things to report. I did sign up on the last day possible to register and as a result paid a steep entry fee ($110). After my surprising PR the previous weekend at the Shipyard Half Marathon in Maine, I took the entire week off running (not for any reason other than laziness). But that’s not to say I wasn’t active in the days leading up to the race. In fact the day before, my fitbit logged almost 10 miles sightseeing Chicago.
Brittney and Jen accompanied me to the race expo which was at McCormick Place. We navigated there on the “L” without much difficulty and tagged along behind some other people headed the same direction. I did overhear a little bit of their conversation and a local man swore this was the best course that ran through Chicago. I was feeling pretty optimistic. The walk was a little long and it was warm from the train station to the expo center but we got there without much difficulty. Bib pickup was a breeze with clear signs pointing us through the stations. I stopped for an obligatory photo at the Rock N Roll Series sign, picked up my shirt (my sizing looked fine, but the volunteers seemed willing to let you exchange if there was a problem), and Britt signed up for runner tracking to know when I finished. We probably spent about a half hour wandering the stands and exhibits filling my goodie bag with snacks and free giveaways. I didn’t want to hold my friends up too much since we were in town at Brittney’s idea, so we headed out for an afternoon of sightseeing.
As an aside, if you only have a day or two in Chicago and want to see as much as possible I recommend the Go Pass. We popped in and out of nearly every major tourist attraction in the city and more than made up for the cost of the pass.
Saturday night, I left Brittney and Jen at the hotel bar and went back to the room relatively early. I anticipated not sleeping well like so many times before; but I was in bed by 10:30 and asleep shortly thereafter. I think the day’s activities just tired me out. The race started 6:30 so I woke up at 5 and was dressed and out the door by 5:30. Normally I would eat a light breakfast but I was pretty underprepared this running season in general. I grabbed a bottle of water and took a Lyft as close to the park as I could get. I had trained only sporadically for the half I ran the week before and had never run 13 miles two weeks in a row. I was really only hoping to check off this state by finishing this race in a time relatively close to the others I had run.
Roads were closed as we approached the park so my Lyft driver dropped me off at an intersection where many runners were waiting to cross. I followed the masses of bibbed people to the corral area, found and used the port-o-potties without much trouble and located corral 22 with about 15 minutes to spare. While walking through the crowds they did have photographers set up to snap pre-race photos which I thought was kind of nice.
The corrals moved relatively quickly, with one released every minute or two, and the race announcers did their best to get the crowd excited to run. I believe I crossed the starting line a few minutes before 7 am. I made note of the bib numbers of the people around me, I didn’t see another person whose bib started with 22xxx. There was no one checking to keep people in the correct corrals but this didn’t seem to be a problem. I never really was forced to slow down due to crowds of people or walkers.
The course itself was very enjoyable. We started running along Lake Michigan, near the exact spot I gave up riding a bike the day before. The 10K runners, who started with us, split off within a few minutes of running.
I had heard that the music and entertainment was lacking in past races but I thought they did a nice job of spacing it out. Every mile or two there was something to look at/listen for. Entertainment ranged from a barbershop quartet to an Elvis impersonator, to the Blues Brothers, to rock bands. I especially enjoyed the “Da Bears” guys from the old Saturday Night Live sketch.
I was running along just taking everything in: the awesome crowd support, Lake Michigan, Willis Tower, the train tracks above my head, the Chicago Theater, not paying too much attention to my pace or Runkeeper app. In fact, I figured I couldn’t trust it anyway due to some GPS malfunctions I’d been having all weekend. I knew I was running faster than usual and just attributed it to my awesomeness and how much there was to see on this course. I ran several 9 minute miles which is usually my 5K pace, not the 10:40 I ran just a week before. That awesomeness wasn’t gonna last forever though. I don’t remember “hitting a wall” but somewhere around mile 9 I remember thinking I was ready to be done running. It had started to sprinkle very slightly, we had to run a boring out and back segment of the course, and I could hear the voice in my headphones telling me my pace was dropping quickly. Those 9 minute miles became 11 minute ones. There was less music and we were now running along a highway. Thunder and lightning had started and were getting closer. My total mileage was off on my app so I had no idea how much running I really had left. Worst of all, the finish line was visible in the distance but for a long time it felt like I wasn’t getting any closer to crossing it.
Within seconds of finishing and grabbing my medal a torrential downpour started. A man on a loudspeaker was advising everyone to get away from the finish line immediately and that they had no idea when it would let up. Again I followed the masses, only this time sopping wet, until I could find some shelter. I had no idea where my hotel was located compared to where I finished or how to get back. Luckily I stumbled upon a train station and made it back to my room. The rain had stopped completely by the time I got back to the hotel and it turned out to be a hot and sunny day. I was a little bummed out that I didn’t stick around for the after race festivities but quickly got over it with the thought of a hot shower.
I had no idea how I finished until I checked in with Brittney who sent me a text: 2:23:26. Slightly disappointing considering how flat the course was and how much I enjoyed the entertainment. I place the blame on my poor pacing early on combined with mediocre training and overexertion the day before.
Overall, I loved this race and the city of Chicago. I would 100 percent run it again, and when I do, I expect to take several minutes off my finish time.
50 States. 50 Races. 