I ran the Chicago Half Marathon on Sunday as a training run for the Fox Valley Marathon, which I’m scheduled to run on September 21. I really needed to get in a 20 miler since I hadn’t had a chance to run that far in my training yet, so I decided to run the half marathon plus an extra seven miles. I ran the Chicago Half last year and enjoyed it, so I decided to sign up again this year.
I got up at 3 AM and finished the first 7 miles on the treadmill while watching Mean Girls. Despite having to get up really early, I am very glad I decided to run the miles before instead of after the race. Great decision.
FREE Hip Openers for Runners Guide
Sweet relief for your tight, sore hips!
Get the best hip-opening yoga poses sent straight to your inbox.
My hubby accompanied me down to the race. I paid an extra $30 to do race day packet pickup, because with the drive into the city, parking, and time, we thought it would be more cost effective. We waited in line for about 10 or 15 minutes to pick up my bib. The volunteers told me to come back after the race for my shirt.
- Apparently I was not amused when Scott took this photo.
We hung out for a little while in a park by the start line. I had Scott snap some pre-race photos of me, I finished getting ready (LOTS of sunscreen!), and we packed up to head to the start line. As we were packing up, I was followed by a bee that wouldn’t leave me alone and somehow I got stung on my middle finger as I was trying to move away from it.
The sting hurt like hell. A nice guy standing in the corral next to me offered me some Aleve, but I passed–he might’ve needed it later. There were bees flying around the runners in the corrals, which really started freaking me out since I really hate bees and the only two times I’ve been stung (this time being the second) involved running, one of my favorite things to do.
The race started without any problems. I did like that they just let all the start corrals roll through, so you didn’t have to wait a long time between corrals to get through the start.
We ran by the Museum of Science and Industry first and on streets through the surrounding parks before making our way onto Lakeshore Drive.
Our first view of the skyline.
Since we were so far south we didn’t get a ton of great views of the city, but the views we did get of the skyline were really nice.
The weather was really great for the race–temps in the 60s °F and sunny. As we got further north, we got more and more views of the skyline, which was nice.
You can see a little bit of the skyline over the road along the horizon.
The bees were all over along the course, especially at aid stations where there was lots of sugary Gatorade spilled on the roads. I’m normally skittish around bees, but my still throbbing hand made me super paranoid about them and I multiple times I crossed to the opposite side of the road to avoid one. I’d feel a surge of adrenaline every time I saw one. At one point, I thought one landed on my elbow, which set off a panic attack. I’m pretty sure the other runners thought I was just out of breath from running, but I was miserable from the constant adrenaline rushes from bees buzzing by me. All I wanted to do was get to that finish line.
You can just barely see the Golden Lady in the distance toward the left of the photo.
We ran by the Golden Lady about a mile from the finish line, which is when I knew we were getting close. I was so happy to cross the finish line and be done. My legs were really tired at the end, but they didn’t feel awful. I was happy with how my run went as a whole, even if I wasn’t happy with the experience as a whole.
Elevation change according to my Garmin.
My mile splits. My pace was good for what I needed to get out of the run–nice, easy pace to finish the 20 total miles.
After the race, I braved the bees in the finish area (which were being strangely aggressive all morning, according to Scott) and waited in a long line to pick up my race shirt. We finally got to the beginning of the line only to be told we had to go to another tent to get my shirt. We checked with the second tent, where we were told to go back to the original tent, but after pressing a little more, we discovered that they had run out of finisher shirts. I was really angry that they didn’t have enough shirts for people who paid $30 extra to pick up their packets on race day.
We were also originally directed to the wrong tent to pick up my 39.3 Challenge medal (for finishing the Chicago Spring Half Marathon, 13.1 Chicago Half Marathon, and Chicago Half Marathon), but once we found the correct tent, we were able to pick that up relatively easily.
My Chicago Half Marathon finisher medal and my 39.3 Challenge medal.
Overall, I thought the race was less organized than last year. The tents weren’t labeled very clearly and there was practically no signage directing runners to different areas, so it was hard to find where we needed to go and what line to stand in. Between that and my shirt snafu, I don’t think I’ll be running this race next year and I don’t know if I’ll participate in any other Lifetime Athletic Events races, either.
What do you watch on the treadmill (if anything)?
Ever run a bad race?
What’s your favorite city to run in?
Have you ever participated in a race series where you can earn extra medals?
Ouch, sorry to hear about your bee sting. Hope your hand is better! Those bees were very aggressive. I was taking pictures and a video of the finish line and had to leave because of the bees. Then in the beer garden they were everywhere. Anyway, glad to hear you got your 20 miles in at the correct pace. Sorry to hear about the t-shirt snafu. However, it would have been way cheaper for me to get the race day pickup option because of the $25 I spent on parking in the Navy Pier garage, $$’s spent at Riva on Navy Pier for lunch and the 1.5 hours of gasoline used in the slow slog 8 miles home (Cubs traffic and German Fest parade)!
Yikes, it sounds like the bees were a problem everywhere. Don’t know why they were so angry. The cost of traveling to Navy Pier + parking is why I decided it would be smarter to pay for race day pickup, and I still believe it was a good idea, but I also think if you’re going to charge a premium for a service you should make sure everyone receives everything that participants who went to the expo got. Hopefully they’ll fix it for future races.
That is so nuts about the bees! What the heck! I noticed a lot of bugs are coming indoors now… is the cooler weather making the bees nuts, too?!
I think that is really smart you did the 7 before, too 🙂 I have had a hard time with extra mileage after a race!
And that really sucks about your shirt. I would be upset too, after paying extra. Did they say if they are going to print more for the people who didn’t get them? I wonder what percentage they use to decide how many shirts to print based on people registered – obviously less.
When I did this race two years ago I thought it was unclear at the end where to get your extra medals. Sounds like they have some things to work on!
I am all about doing extra mileage before the race, too. It just works so much better. The volunteer I spoke to said that we could stand in another long line to get put on a list to get a shirt sent to me, which I decided to skip but I am going to email them and see if they’ll send me one. Hopefully they’ll get their act together but until then, I’m going to avoid the race.
Ouch about the bee sting! I think that was smart of you to run the miles before instead of after! My 20 went well but I have another one in a couple of weeks and I’d like to run it a little faster. I am hoping we get lucky with some much cooler weather soon! It is still 90-100 here every dang day.
Yeah, cooler weather will definitely help with speed. I can’t believe how well you run in the high heat, but I suppose your body’s really well acclimated to it. Hoping you get a taste of fall soon!
I cannot believe that you got up at 3 am to run 7 miles! Dedication!
Anyways, great recap. I love the weather this time of year, but I hate the bees. I’ve done this half and I loved it, but the logistics of getting there were more than I care to repeat.
Great job!
I figured 7 miles before was a better option than 7 miles after, which helped me get motivated to wake up early. Thanks for the encouragement!
The views and weather sound great, but the bees would freak me out too. So sorry.
Thanks for the sympathy. It would have been a good race without the crazy bees!
Not getting a shirt would be worse than not getting a medal to me! I think I’d rather run the extra mileage before the race, too, so that when I crossed the finish line, I’d be done. Congrats on the finish!
Yeah, I was definitely bummed about the shirt. It was a long sleeve one, too, which you don’t get at most races.
What a cool medal! I know a ton of people who did that race. Seems like a great course.
Thanks! I did like the medal. The course is really nice, too. It’s a neat feeling to be able to run on LSD.
Awesome job Beth! You are such a rock star for running 7 miles before a half. Great way to get in a 20. The race looks beautiful!
Thank you! The views of the skyline were very pretty. 🙂
Way to go!
A few of my patients are running the FV marathon so I’m hoping to go and cheer ya’ll on! Best of luck with your taper!
Hooray! Maybe I’ll see you there. 🙂