Harry's Story from the Marathon
Last Sunday I ran the Chicago Marathon – with the best support team anyone could have- Stacy Antoniadis and Andi
We flew to Chicago Friday morning and we spent the afternoon at the Expo. It was held in the main exhibition hall of the McCormick center – the one normally used for international trade shows – it was huge. We checked into our hotel and had dinner in a delightful restaurant in the Italian Village.
Stacey had ran Steamtown two weeks earlier, and was still recovering. Andi was also recovering from a sequence of injuries which had prevented her from being in the race. A few weeks earlier she could barely run a mile; she ran 5 miles for the first time, in months just a few days earlier.
Despite this they both volunteered to run with me. Stacy would join me at the halfway point and Andi would run me in the last five miles.
So Saturday morning we took the train to explore and agree specific meeting points. One and a half million spectators were expected to watch the race, we wanted to be certain of the meeting locations. That afternoon Stacy and Andi went shopping in the Golden Mile, while I chilled out in the hotel, garnering my strength for the race. Later we went for dinner in the Greek section of the city – all the Italian restaurants were fully booked.
Then we discovered the weather forecast for the race was getting worse – a temperature of 36 degrees, rain and a wind of 25 mph. The temperature was good, the wind sounded unpleasant, but with rain it was going to be a nightmare – I didn’t sleep easy that night.
The forecasters were right about the temperature and the wind, but fortunately it didn’t rain.
We stayed in the official hotel for the race; it was less than half a mile from the start and finish lines. The foyer was packed with runners as we left at 7.20 am to walk to the start area. Yes, Andi left her warm cozy bed to join me at the start line. There were 35,000 runners all wearing disposable clothing and trash bags. Five minutes before the gun went off people stripped off their attire and there was a rain of sweat pants and tops flying through the air. People were trying to throw them to the side of the road – but sweat pants don’t fly very far. So they landed on us as we were standing near one side.
It only took 15 minutes to cross the line. Andi slipped through the railings to return to the hotel, and I started racing.
The first two miles were difficult; the road was covered with trash bags and discarded clothing. There seemed to be a solid wall of people in front of me, it was difficult to break through. The first mile seemed to take forever, and I realized I had another 25 to go. I had set my Garmin to show me Lap Pace. I hit lap every mile and tried to maintain a 9:20 pace, one mile at a time. There were crowds every where on the route. I high fived all the kids, thanked people and clapped for the bands. Soon the miles started ticking away, I was smiling and enjoying what was really a spectacle of 35,000 runners and over a million spectators. However my hydration plan wasn’t working. I had calculated, to the ounce, how much I would drink to stay hydrated. But my bladder was filling up and I actually stopped for a potty break – that had never happened in any previous race. It was so cold I was hardly sweating – so I started running through some of the water stops.
Elvis was there, all sorts of dance groups and various bands and cheerleaders. Before long I was approaching the half way point. It was on a corner by a pretty church with two spires.
I reached the corner, but couldn’t see Stacy and Andi – I slowed a little wondering what I would do if I couldn’t find them – but then they saw me. They both ran along side, Andi wished me luck, and Stacy and I ran on. Stacey was great, she entertained me with stories and followed me as we gingerly picked our way through the runners ahead. We ran through the Italian section and the Greek area seeing both restaurants where we had dined the previous two nights. We ran through the Old City and pretty, tree lined streets. The miles ticked by again and I was maintaining my target pace. I had tried to memorize a picture of the route, but I had lost track of it by now – I was feeling a little disorientated.
Then we saw the large Stars and Stripes which was flying close to the rendezvous with Andi. We crossed the last bridge on the course, turned a corner, and there was Andi. Stacy dropped out at that point (she enjoyed a well earned doughnut and coffee before returning to the hotel).
Andi was her normal chirpy self, chatting about the adventurous train ride she’d had with Stacy that morning. We went through China town and we were cheered on by a large dragon.
Soon we were at mile 23, I was hitting the wall. Had we just passed mile 23 or was it mile 24 – I hoped it was 24 – but it wasn’t. I kept looking at my Garmin, I knew this was the watershed of the race and I desperately wanted to maintain my pace – I was a little slow, but not bad. Andi told me to forget the “watch”, and to stop talking, just run – I wasn’t talking much anyway. Mile 24 came at last – only two miles to go. Anyone can run two miles. It was almost a straight run down Michigan Avenue to the finish.
I didn’t look at the Garmin after that. I just kept running for the medal. Andi told me to relax, and drop my shoulders – she actually put her hand on my shoulders to push them down. I ground through the next mile continuing to overtake some of the runners. Then we reached mile 25.
My legs hurt, my hip flexors were on fire. All the previous aches and pains in my feet and hamstrings I had wished away, but now nothing worked – it was just pain. I heard myself producing a pathetic whimpering noise with every breath. Andi told me to breathe normally – but I didn’t know how!
Chicago is a very well organized race. There were count down markers to the finish line – 800 meters, 600 meters… We passed 200 meters I tried to smile, but don’t know if I succeeded (the photos aren’t available yet).
We crossed the finish, but I wanted to keep running – Andi stopped me. I was still making that pathetic whimpering noise – it must have been very annoying.
I stopped my watch – 4 hr 12 minutes. WOW, I had achieved my dream goal of 4 hr 15min – that doesn’t happen very often. It was a 12 minute PR.
I thought I might become dizzy, I certainly felt a little unstable. So we picked up some food, Gatorade and water and returned to the hotel – thank God for those emergency blankets. The temperature was still only 40 degrees and it was windy.
I spent the afternoon in the hotel – and Andi and Stacy went shopping.
That night we went to the post race party, followed by celebration cocktails in the hotel.
The next morning we went to the Sears Tower to enjoy the views over Chicago. Then we added a little culture to the trip by visiting the Art Institute. The building had beautiful curving staircases – but we shuffled over to a corner to find the elevators – staircases presented me with a slight problem J
We flew home that afternoon.
All three of us want to go back to Chicago, it’s a fun city and despite the wind, a wonderful marathon. The course is flat and the organization was great – it took no time to get through the finishers chute.
I had a great race, and a fabulous weekend I’ll always remember - thanks to Stacy and Andi.
My only wish is that Andi could have been fit enough to run the whole race herself – I would have tried to keep up.
Good Luck to everyone for Marine Corp, New York, Philly, Harrisburg and all the other marathons
Harry
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