Windy City Jr.
I’m back from the booming metropolis that is Indianapolis, IN and the largest Half Marathon in the country the 2010 500 Festival Mini Marathon.
The fam and I ditched our responsibilities a little early on Friday to make the 4 1/2 hour trek from Crystal Lake to Indianapolis. As usual the drive was long and boring. Oh how the days have changed since I was a kid (flashback to youth) when my dear sister (who is a doctor) and I would play the license plate game or other driving games that would eventually deteriorate into my Dad threatening something along the lines of “I’ll turn this car around!” Those days have been replaced by headphones, gameboys, iPhones (Michelle), and portable DVD players. There were more electronic gizmos in my car than there were in my first apartment.
As usual we were delayed by traffic and had to rush to the hotel, then the expo, and finally to dinner to make what seemed before we left a very reasonable reservation time. After a lovely meal at PF Changs we went to see Iron Man 2, and then headed back to the hotel where I frantically search for the Blackhawks game before finally finding some odd grainy Russian feed that rival watching the Cubs on the U (you Cub fan know of what I speak).
Friday was a lovely day in Indiana. Temperatures were in the low 80s. From what I hear Sunday was also nice. Saturday, not so much. I awoke to 35 mile an hour winds and 40 degrees. Not good!
To top things off the wind was in you face for the first half. By the time you had the wind at you back you were gassed.
The race itself was good. I only had one complaint and it is not the organizers fault. It was the morons who lied about their finish time. I understand people shaving 10 minutes off there anticipated time. Personally I always go a few minutes lower because I start fast. What is not acceptable are the 3 groups of people who started ahead of the 1 hour and 55minute pace.
-Group A: The walkers. Before we reached the 1/4 mile point I was passing walkers. Complete with water bottles. These people had no intention of running.
-Group B: Out of shape guys. I dealt with these people around the 1 mile mark. They had to take a break before the reached mile 1. Most of them were covered in sweat. BEFORE MILE 1.
-Group C: The Liers. These people were the bulk of the problem. I spent the bulk of miles 1 and 2 passing and trying to pass runners. This dropped my 2 fastest miles (usually 7.5-8 minues) to 2 of my slowest miles. Both were over 9 minutes. These people were running 10 minute plus miles and positioned themselves in the front. It’s called “thinking of others” learn it!
Overall the race was excellent, the post race spread was excellent, the medal was rather cheap but it was a medal none the less.