Illinois Marathon-Anyone Running This? (Read 653 times)

I'm in. Doing the full. The weather looks good but maybe a little bit windy. I think it is supposed to be around 32 for the start and 50 for the finish (40 for the finish for anybody reasonably fast). Good luck.

That's great! Good luck Pink! (I'm surprised it was over 200 marathons for you to complete this, not a goal at first?) Doing the 7 continents next?

That's great! Good luck Pink! (I'm surprised it was over 200 marathons for you to complete this, not a goal at first?) Doing the 7 continents next?

Interesting thing. Finishing the 50 states was actually one of my early marathon goals. I was supposed to finish in 2006 (five years after I started), but I got sidetracked and it became less important than other goals. Like chasing women and stuff. So.... knock on wood that I have no travel or race issues... I'll hit 50 after 7 1/2 years. That's fine. I have no plans for the continents. I got international travel out of my system in my former work life. I'd still like to do some odd ones (islands, for example... Iceland, Easter Island), but I don't feel like specifically visiting all the continents again just for a marathon. (ok, in fairness, I've never been to South America nor Antarctica).

8000 runners signed up for the full (2000), half (4000), and 5k (2000). I was shocked. I thought it was going to be a 500 person marathon with maybe 2500 in the half. I surely hope they found volunteers. Lots and lots of volunteers.

I'm in Chicago at the moment. I would have simply driven from ORD, but I got a free flight, so I maximized my flying distance. Which means I have to keep my fingers crossed about my connection to Champaign. Anyway, shouldn't be a big deal. Race goal for me... I'm doing training runs; my goal race (or race season, depending) is July. So, tomorrow will be 3:40-3:50 depending on how I feel with a goal of running as evenly as possible. My other race goal is a quirky thing... I want to run cold. I have tropical genes and I'm cold at anything under 60, so I tend to overdress. This really killed me last weekend. I'm going to try to man up tomorrow. But WIND makes it harder for me, and it shall be breeeezzy. My other goal SHOULD HAVE BEEN "take lots of pictures to remember my 50th state", but I showed up in The Land of Lincoln w/o my camera. crapola.

I'm in Chicago at the moment. I would have simply driven from ORD, but I got a free flight, so I maximized my flying distance. Which means I have to keep my fingers crossed about my connection to Champaign. Anyway, shouldn't be a big deal. Race goal for me... I'm doing training runs; my goal race (or race season, depending) is July. So, tomorrow will be 3:40-3:50 depending on how I feel with a goal of running as evenly as possible. My other race goal is a quirky thing... I want to run cold. I have tropical genes and I'm cold at anything under 60, so I tend to overdress. This really killed me last weekend. I'm going to try to man up tomorrow. But WIND makes it harder for me, and it shall be breeeezzy. My other goal SHOULD HAVE BEEN "take lots of pictures to remember my 50th state", but I showed up in The Land of Lincoln w/o my camera. crapola.

You just need to rock and old dress shirt as a throw away... Good luck on your 50th state, I hope you win! Now back to the large pile o' tax returns on my desk - just a few more days.

Wow, what a gorgeous day! And yesterday's 30 mph steady wind was much reduced. Phew. The community really came out. I only have two small goofy things I recall about the race, but what an excellent first-time event. Especially considering the size. Hope everyone else had fun and made their goals. I did. AND I got to hang out with Dick Beardsley at the airport. Now I am double disappointed that I forgot my camera.