Soldier on

   Ok.  No excuses will be accepted from this point forward.  The last two weekends have provided possibly the most beautiful mornings for running I can remember.  My friends and I were commenting that it was "P.R. weather" at the Soldier Field 10 miler.  We just wished we were in P.R. condition!

This was the fifth year of the Soldier Field race.  I have done it every year since it began as the brainchild of Fleet Feet Sports owners Dave and Lisa Zimmer.  I can truly say it has improved every year for a number of reasons.  Most important in this race is the finish, which is on the field at the 50 yard line.  That is the whole reason to run the race.  It's the reward at the end of your effort, and I defy most runners to suppress that smile when you ender Soldier Field and the finish line is in sight.

In any case, getting into the stadium at the end of the race can be tricky.  They have changed the route several times in the last few years.  They first tried going in at the south west corner, then the northwest corner, and finally, this year, the northeast corner.  That is, by far, the best way in.  There is a wide ramp where the trucks enter the loading dock there.  It's where they park when they set up a stage for concerts.  And it leads into a tunnel that goes through the same entrance the Bears take when they enter the field from the locker room.  There are no sharp turns getting there, and no narrow tunnels to squeeze through.  So congratulations to all involved on a great race this year.

One other note worth mentioning was the woman singing the National Anthem before the race.  Her name is Catherine Raney.  She is (country singer) Tim McGraw's 18 year old cousin and opens shows for him at some of his concerts.  I have not seen her in concert, but her rendition of the Anthem was great.  I actually saw runners paying attention and listening rather than nervously stretching and waiting for the starting horn.  She was there on behalf of Team McGraw, which is a running charity raising money for brain cancer.  Two members of the band also ran, then played a concert that night!  http://www.tugmcgraw.org/about/default.asp

As far as my race, it was pretty good.  I have not been focused on this event at all in my training.  I just wanted to go out and have a good effort.  A year ago I went into it with the goal of running under 70 minutes.  That was difficult, but I made it in 69-something.  It was also a lot of work, and I was in a little better shape.

This year, I am focused on the MC200 relay in a couple weeks.  My running buddy Tom is pointing toward the North Shore Half Marathon that same weekend.  So we resolved to run about 7:30 pace and take it easy.  Of course, running ten miles at that pace still took some effort, and about mile 7 I was trying to remember how it was I ran so much faster a year ago, but seemed to feel just as cashed at that point in the race. 

Last  year one of the motivating factors was knowing Tom was a short way behind me, and probably focused on trying to catch me.  In other years the situation has been reversed, with me chasing him.  This year, he and I ran together the last few miles, and crossed the finish line at the same time.  That was a first.  I'm in the red, and he's shirtless in the picture.  We finished in 74:20 on my watch, which is just under 7:30 pace.  So we felt pretty good about our effort, and now we can focus entirely being competitive in the next races ahead for each of us.

Congratulations to everyone who ran! 

The biggest race of the week, though was the big Chase Corporate Challenge on Thursday in Grant Park.  I did not run, but brought my camera over and took some pictures.  I wanted to cheer some of my friends on, including the folks I run with at CNA.  They usually send a good group to the race, and also usually qualify for the national race in New York.

It was a little cold that evening, but still good running weather.  It is inspiring to see so many people out there.  There were more than 24,000 registered.  For many of them, it's the only race they do all year.  It's great for morale and company spirit.  Instead of hitting the bars after work, they throw on the shoes and shorts and hit the road.  Kudos to them.

So the race calendar is getting busy now.  Hope you can get out and participate!  See you on the roads....

Comments

[Alan Tieuli]

John:

Nice seeing you out there on race night and it would be great if we could get an ABC team together next year. I've already noted to make this a priority for next spring. Talk to you then...in the interim, have a wonderful summer of rest and racing.

Best
Alan Tieuli