Chicago Distance Classic Half Marathon

The Chicago Distance Class half marathon on August 12 went well. I stayed with Liz until she experienced some knee pain around mile 11 or so. The weather was perfect for running and the newly redesigned course was a welcome change. I ran the same race two years ago. The course started/finished near UIC and the last 2 miles or so were in the dark, asphalty, oily, exhausty, albeit cool depths of Lower Wacker Drive. This year, the course mimicked the marathon course for the first couple miles then west for about a mile, east back to downtown, south on Lake Shore drive to past 39th, then north on the running path. When you make that southernmost turnaround, you're treated to a fabulous view of Chicago with lake in the foreground, and the skyline providing a dramatic backdrop.

Since I treated it like a training run, I was happy to keep just over 9 minute miles and a time of 2:03. Liz finished just behing me at 2:05-ish. Mom, Jeanine and Dorothea bettered their best half time by about 10 minutes, despite an incident where my Mom slammed her finger in a port-o-potty door and had to wait to get a bandaid on it to slow the bleeding.

At the finish line, we were presented with our medals and ice-cold golf-towel sized towels. They were so refreshing! I hope other races in the future provide the same thing.