I've been thinking about the comment Josh Cox made during our interview after the Rock-n-Roll half marathon a week or so ago. He said running and music go together very well because running is such a 'soul-full' experience. He also has an amazing music library on his ipod that includes about 50,000 songs. That's a lot. I mean, he is an ultra-marathon type runner who spends a lot of time on really long runs (he holds the American 50k record), but he also runs so fast he can't possibly get through that library in year right?!
In any case, we were talking about music in the context of bands playing during and after a race, as they do in the Rock-n-Roll series, as well as a growing number of other races. A few years ago Nike hosted the 'Run Hit Wonder' 5k-10/k series in Chicago. It was a blast, and I was disappointed when they stopped doing it here. They briefly replaced it with a race at US Cellular Field, and the Human Race at Soldier Field, and those races included big post-race concerts as well. Unfortunately, they were also 'one hit wonders'. But there are plenty of others including RAM's second Grateful Dead themed race a couple weeks ago, the Terrapin 5k. And Fleet Feet held the annual Elvis is Alive 5k last week.
They've been putting the Elvis race on for more than a decade, and, amazingly, it keeps getting bigger and better. I was never a big Elvis fan, but it's hard not to appreciate the hundreds of runners to don at least a partial Elvis costume and take off at the starting horn. I don't know how they manage running in those costumes when it's 90 degrees out, but, hey, I wore shorts! By the way, my favorite part of the picture of the winner crossing the line is the Elvis costume worn by little Sebastian Zimmer who is holding one end of the tape.
The race has evolved into more of a non-competitive fun run other than for the first few finishers. There are no timing chips or bands. You just pin on a number and take off down the beautiful lakefront path on a terrific summer evening. You can't beat running on the lakefront any time, but in the early evening it's really great.
I ran it as a way to get a good workout in, and have some fun listening to the post-race concert. The Elvis impersonator was backed by Anthony and the Guitar Street Orchestra, and they kept the party going into the evening. The race entry also comes with a beer ticket for those inclined to drink something other than Gatorade after the run. They fenced in the entire area around the grounds, so everyone could roam around with beer in hand, as opposed being restricted to a specific 'beer garden' area.
There are plenty of serious, competitive races on the calendar in the Chicago area. Many runners are in the midst of hard training schedules for fall marathons. That's why races like this are a welcome respite from the other stuff. I ran about :30 a mile slower than my 5k race pace, but still got a great run in, and shared the path with lots of other like-minded runners.
So congratulations to all the finishers. Rock on!
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