Marathon

Yesterday Kristen and I attended the Chicago Marathon - not as runners of course, but as spectators. I say that in jest, but I should make it clear that a few years back Kristen actually did successfully run in and finish the marathon - and in a rather impressive time I might add!

Anyway, we knew 3 runners, so we wanted to see if we could see them and cheer them on. They were 1) our old neighbor from Maplewood, 2) Kristen's co-worker and 3) Kristen's cousin. We saw none of them. It actually is not as difficult as you would think. We picked a spot that was easy to get to, and encompassed the 14th, 15th, and 18th mile markers. The crowds in these spots were thin enough that we were right in front and could see all the runners pretty clearly. The issue is that we told none of them where we would be because we didn't figure it out until that morning - so needless to say they had no idea where to look for us, even if they wanted to. So we were able to spot a lot of the crowd, but when very dense groups ran by, it got a tad difficult to pick out familiar faces amongst all of the huffers and puffers. What compounded our frustration was that a lot of people around us were spotting their friends in the race and their runners were coming over to give a quick hug and to say hello, and a few stopped long enough to pose for a pic. I think that had we known where we were going to spectate and mentioned that to our friends, we would have better luck connecting with them during the race. Lesson learned for next year.

Even though we missed all three competitors, it was still very neat to see the turnout, to cheer people on, and to learn about all the different organizations and personal reasons why people were running - a lot of them had writings or logos on their shirts that described their motives. A bonus was that we got to explore an unfamiliar neighborhood that is new to us and I'm sure we will revisit in a less chaotic time when we can actually enjoy one of the many bars and/or restaurants. The area is called Little Italy/UIC. It is located amongst all of the University of Illinois - Chicago campus buildings and Rush Hospital. Also, there is a very deep Italian-American rooting - which explains all the eclecticism, great restaurants and the smells emanating as we walked down the streets.

I wish the weather would have been a little better for the runners, though. No precipitation, but damn it was cold! As we were leaving from watching the race Kristen and I saw the temperature on a sign at the United Center that read 43 degrees - mind you, this sign was sitting in constant sunlight and this was after noon. I could only imagine how cold it was for those runners at 7:30am under the shade of all those skyscrapers downtown... yikes! Kudos to all the participants and staff. Congrats to the winners and those who accomplished a personal goal yesterday!