Monday, October 10, 2011

Mondays in Love: Chicago Marathon Weekend

I've said it before and I'll say it again: I love everything about October + Running. I love it all, and Chicago Marathon Weekend is no exception. Over 40,000 participants and an estimated 100,000 spectators, it is something to behold. It also holds a special place in my heart. <3

I started endurance running with Team in Training in the spring of 2007. Our group was almost entirely training for either the Chicago Distance Classic (now Rock & Roll) or the Chicago Marathon. Meg and I did the CDC and planned to go back to Chicago to cheer for our teammates running the 26.2. When the weekend rolled around,Meg, Mr. Joanna and I headed north prepared with our glittery signs and ready to cheer our hearts out.

We went up on Saturday. Meg spent the day with her best friend (who happens to live there) and Mr. Joanna and I spent the day seeing the city. It was an incredibly sweet time for me, because we had the most wonderful secret in the world: I was pregnant with my son. I so happily spent the day wandering through crowds seeing the Field Museum, taking a ferry boat ride, visiting the Navy Pier, and eating yummy food, knowing that no one around us knew. Something about being in a city and a weekend away made that feeling memorable. 


 Of course, race day 2007 turned out to be a huge moment in American running, for being cancelled part way through for heat. I actually saw the "race canceled" signs. I'd been sitting in the shade sweating as we spectated, and had seen the fire trucks spraying water on runners, but still did not really understand the severity of the situation until later, when I heard it from my Teammates and read about it in Runners World.


We saw all our Teammates and one of our coaches, and all our people made it safely through the day.

This year, being pregnant again and spectating (albeit from a distance), I couldn't help but reminisce on Chicago 2007. I can't wait to read the race recaps from my bloggy peeps who were there this weekend!

4 comments:

Raquelita said...

I remember hearing that it had been canceled due to the heat that year while I was in the National Library of Spain. Surreal to remember that. I wish I had been there this year, but I know that I will run Chicago one day.

B.o.B. said...

i must have missed the post about you being preggers! congrats lady!

Marlene said...

Seems it was another warm and sunny day out there yesterday. NOT my kind of running weather. 2007 blows my mind every time I read about it. Let's hope THAT never happens again!

Black Knight said...

It's hard to run such long distance with the heat. That shower looks wonderful and healthy!
I visited Chicago in 1999 and I liked a lot.