It is the traditional start of the running season in Chicago. More than 30,000 runners will be pounding the pavement. There's a great party afterward. I'm a runner, and I'm excited about the start of the running season. So why am I not running the Shamrock Shuffle? It's the 30th anniversary after all! Well, there are good reasons. At least they sounded good at the time. Now, maybe not so much.
Yes, the Shamrock Shuffle is upon us once again, and after a long winter of freezing and shoveling snow, I am ready for it. Except the part that I failed to sign up. I even got the emails from the organizers warning that it was about to fill up. And when it did, I mentioned it in this space, and barely gave it a second thought. But now that it is really upon us, I'm having second thoughts.
Maybe one of the reasons is the fun run that Nike sponsored a couple weeks ago. They billed it as the 'start of the running season'. It was partly designed to get people psyched about the Shamrock Shuffle which they help sponsor. They brought in a couple of the best runners in the country: Olympians Alan Webb, and Sanya Richards to run a few miles with Chicagoans training for the Shamrock 
Shuffle. Unfortunately, I was on vacation during that run, so I missed out. But they did send me some great pictures from it.
The Shamrock run seems to have grown into this mega-race almost overnight. I remember running it when there were a few thousand runners going through the loop. The post-race party and concert were in the basement of the Hilton Hotel, and it was a 'can't miss' part of the event.
Now race is packed with runners at almost every pace level. The party is under a huge tent by Buckingham Fountain, and the band plays before tens of thousands of runners! It's still a 'can't miss' part of the event, but the intimacy is definitely gone! The band this year, by the way is 'Maggie Speaks".
Meantime they also have a bunch of great runners competing this year. There is a great team competition, which I have written about previously. And they have a couple world class runners including Deena Kastor, the Olympian, and American record holder at the 8k distance. I could write more about her, but it's probably better just to let you read the press release from the race organizers!
After injury forced her to drop from the 2008 Beijing Olympic Marathon field mid-race, decorated U.S. runner Deena Kastor will make her return to road racing on Sunday, March 29 at the Bank of America Shamrock Shuffle 8K. In so doing, Kastor, 36, will return to the site where she set the current American women's 8K record in 2005 (24:36).
"After more than 6 months of recovery and training, I am so excited to race again," said 
Kastor from her home in Mammoth Lakes, Calif. "Chicago has a special place in my heart as a city where ‘luck' has been on my side both at the 8K in 2005 and again later that year at the marathon distance. I look forward to starting my 2009 racing season at the Shamrock Shuffle 8K. It is just my style to be in a race where there is so much enthusiasm and excitement on the starting line."
Kastor's 2005 Chicago appearance was preceded by her Olympic Marathon bronze medal performance in the 2004 Athens Games. Her medal was the first for a U.S. woman in the marathon since Joan Benoit (Samuelson) won the inaugural gold in 1984.
Following her 2005 Shamrock Shuffle performance, Kastor returned to Chicago in October to win the Chicago Marathon in 2:21:25. The following spring she set the current American women's marathon record with a 2:19:36 win at the Flora London Marathon.
Kastor will lead the 30th Anniversary Shamrock Shuffle field on Sunday, March 29 featuring 32,500 participants in the 8K run (30,000) and 5K Fitness Walk (2,500). The annual rite of spring for local fitness enthusiasts begins and ends in Chicago's historic Grant Park.
In advance of the event, a two-day Health & Fitness Expo featuring more than 75 industry-related exhibitors will take place at Navy Pier on Friday, March 27 and Saturday, March 28. The Expo is free and open to the public as is the event day race course.
Deena should be exciting to watch. And that's what I'll be doing. Watching. Ok, really the reason I decided not to sign up is because I know I'm running the Boston marathon in a few weeks, and I need to do a long run the day before the Shamrock. It sounds like a solid excuse, except for the fact that I know a number of people who are doing both.
And that's probably ok, so long as you don't race too hard, and negatively impact your marathon. You do have to be very careful about that. But it's certainly possible to treat it as a fun run. Because, really, that's what it is. And I hope everyone has fun out there. I'll be rooting you on....
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