Chicago Distance Classic Race Report

[dgrant]

Quickchick and I just got back from a fun weekend in Chicago, during which we ran the Chicago Distance Classic 1/2 Marathon.

We have wanted to return to Chicago ever since we ran the Chicago Marathon in 2003. Although we didn't get to see all of the city then because we were trying to rest up for the race, we got a sense of what a great city it is, and wanted to spend a long weekend checking it out properly. Frankly, the 1/2 marathon this weekend was just a bonus to our trip. (We're really lucky to be healthy enough to treat a half marathon as just another tourist attraction.)

Anyway, the race started at 7am, but because our hotel was only a mile from the start line in Grant Park, we were able to treat the morning preparations fairly casually. I basically sauntered up to the start area 5 minutes before the race and took off.

I really started in a disciplined way and let hundreds and hundreds of people pass me in the first few kilometres. I set my Garmin to display average pace instead of instantaneous pace, so when I hit 5:15/km I just hit the cruise control and kept that steady pace for pretty much the whole race. I knew I had the right strategy when at about the 15K point I started passing dozens of people per minute. I mean I went throught the field like a buzzsaw. The funny thing was I wasn't even accelerating, the others were just drastically decelerating and trying to hang on for the finish. I checked the race results spreadsheet, and only 35 people who crossed the 10K split mat behind me finished ahead of me...in other words only 35 people passed me in the final 11.1K, in a race of 5000 people. And I know I passed hundreds of people in that span. After ruining SO MANY races by burning out early, I'm really considering my even pace to be my biggest accomplishment for the race.

Anyway, I finished in 1:50:42 (1135 out of 5060 runners), which is a monster PB for me. The best part is that although I did my best and my time was a fair indication of where I'm at, I still feel like my best racing is ahead of me.

I would very, very much recommend visiting Chicago to anyone who's never been or only been there for business. It is a gorgeous, modern city and we had as great a trip as we'd anticipated. Unfortunately, despite my fun experience, there are some very major problems of safety with the Chicago Distance Classic and it's the first race I've done that I would specifically recommend NOT running...but that will all have to wait for my event review tomorrow.

Hope everybody else had a great weekend! There's so much on the forum to catch up on.

[ultraslacker]

wow Dave, congrats on the "monster" PB and on the even pace! that is awesome. Can't wait to read Lisa's too. It sounds like all our racing maniacs had a good weekend.

[QuickChick]

Darn you Holly... you beat me to the first reply!!!

CONGRATS BABY... I'm so proud of you.

[q]

Congrats on the monster PB!

[ultraslacker]

Darn you Holly... you beat me to the first reply!!!

sorry... long boring night at work so I've kinda been sitting here all night... thinking "please someone post so I'll have something to read", lol.

[TheBman]

Hey big guy!
Way to go.....awsome race, awsome city!
I like your start. in the race......as soon as I read your line about the avg not inst. km pace...I thought "SMART"!!".
I did the PB thing in the half this year too...dont it feel GREAT!!!!!

Anyway, way to smash it AND to enjoy yourself doing it....your right, the best is yet to come!!!!!



bman

[Dani]

It sounds like you two had a great time! Congrats on your MBP! Does that get extra points? When you PB is of the Monster variety?

[Scott]

Well done, Dave. You beat that course soundly.

Scott

[RA.]

awesome job! congrats on the PB!

[dgrant]

After re-reading my race report, I have to apologize for sounding so self-congratulatory. ("I went throught the field like a buzzsaw." Get over yourself dude!) I wrote it last night in a coffee-induced rush.

Anyway thanks for the kind notes.

BTW - with a completed race, and a PB, and consistent training and eating, I'm racking up the challenge points...so you guys are gonna have to stay on your toes.

[Jwolf]

After re-reading my race report, I have to apologize for sounding so self-congratulatory. ("I went throught the field like a buzzsaw." Get over yourself dude!)

Don't you dare "get over yourself"!
You deserve to be floating on that high for a while.
Well done, Dave! A PB in the windy city.
Now rest up and recover well. Looking forward to seeing how you guys do in the ScotiaBank.
And welcome back... the board slowed down a bit with so many of you gone for the weekend.

[clocker]

That feeling of the buzz saw lives in my imagination. It must have been a wonderful feeling. Don't rip that kind of thing out of your enthusiastic reports. It makes the whole thing real some how. Rookies need to know.
Ian

[lovethehills]

Sounds like you had a great time. Congrats on the PB and being smart enough to stick to your game plan early on. Despite all the people passing you!!

We couuld all learn alot from your PB experience!!

[Jo-Jo]

Congratsulation on your amazing PB.

I love the imagery of the buzzsaw...and may well steal it from you for future races...

Joanne

[paulg]

Nice work dgrant, congrats on the PB. Your patience definately paid of when you started passing people later on, a lesson for all of us.

Paul

[lisaannr]

Congratulations! Love the race report, newbies like me can learn a lot from this. And I liked the buzzsaw as well..great image!

Lisa

[jacob42.2]

Any PB is a great PB, but when it's a big one, it's just plain old awesome! Way to go Dave, great report, sounds like a really big run.