The marathon began at 8 a.m., so I woke up at 5, got dressed, and enjoyed a protein-rich breakfast of scrambled eggs and juice.
At 6 a.m., a friend picked me up, and we made our way to Grant Park. The news predicted 1.5 million people in addition to the 40,000 race participants. As we made our way through the massive crowd, that seemed about right.
By the time we got to the starting area it was 15 minutes to race time, and I took my place with the rest of the runners. It was about 45 degrees out and I was wearing shorts, so I jumped up and down to stay warm. All the runners were instructed via the many speakers in the area to “stand in the place where you are.”
At last the hour arrived. After a few starts and stops, I crossed the starting line at about 8:06 and began the race. From the very beginning, I was passed closely from behind by people jockeying for a better time and position.
There was a time when it was my goal to finish in less then four hours. My new goal was to run 10-minute miles and finish in less then 5 hours: slow and steady. Ultimately, I just wanted to finish with a respectable time.
The course meandered around downtown for a few miles before heading north to Addison. Before I knew it, I was a quarter of the way there.
At various points along the course there was live music, and all along the way there were people cheering us on.
After Addison, the course headed back south and then west to the halfway point. I hit the half at two hours and 17 minutes and was pretty much on target for my new goal of 10-minute miles.
The half-way point also marked the beginning of my physical problems. My muscles were sore and I was getting the beginnings of a problem with my left knee and hip that was not likely to get better.
The next stretch went west for a few miles, then south, and then east into Pilsen.
There seemed to be less music and fewer spectators during this stretch. As I went along, the wind turned colder and my physical problems got gradually worse.
I began walking through the water stations and tried to draw strength from the encouragement of the spectators. As I entered Pilsen, the streets were lined with people and festive music playing.
In Chinatown, as I approached the 22-mile mark, my physical problems were enough of an issue that I walked about as much as I ran.
As I rounded on to Michigan Avenue with a little more then a mile to go, I was in pretty bad shape, unable to run more then a quarter mile at a time. I would run until the pain in my leg became unbearable and then walk until it seemed OK to run again. I repeated this process several times until I rounded a corner.
With the finish line in sight, I ran the last 200 meters to cross the finish line with a still-respectable time of 5 hours and 12 minutes.
It was a good week before I was walking normally again, but this was a small price to pay to cross something off of my life to-do list.