Chicago Marathon Race Report – No disrespect intended

The lead-up:

This race report is long overdue…I’ve been meaning to get to it for months, but finally found some downtime to put thoughts to paper…or blog in this case.

The decision to run the Chicago Marathon was based solely on the fact that it is premiere race (and headquarters) of Imerman Angels.  I focused a lot of my time on energy on raising funds and awareness for Imerman Angels in 2013 and it paid big dividends…with the help of friends and family, we raised over $3000 for Imerman Angels, which equates to just over 9 connections for cancer fighters or caregivers.  Equally important, as a result of spreading awareness here in Ottawa, 2 new Ottawa based mentor Angels were recruited and many friends are continuing to spread the word to those they know who have been affected by cancer.

Training was a bit of a challenge this year, balancing cycling events, triathlon, shorter distance races with family and friends and an ever accumulating fatigue from the training and in hind sight a general lack of focus.

Race Weekend:

Since I was headed to the Home of Imerman Angels, I booked some extra time on either side of the Marathon, arriving early Friday afternoon, and staying until mid-day the day after the marathon. 

After getting settled in on Friday, I headed over to the race expo to volunteer at the Imerman Angels booth where I got to meet the Incredibly Energetic Khitam.  Khit is a 2 time cancer survivor, Mentor Angel, member of the Imerman Angels professionals board and is incredibly passionate about the mission of Imerman Angels and spreading awareness…she makes me feel like a sloth with her boundless energy!  Oh and she was going to be running her first marathon on Sunday too J

 

As luck would have it, my good friend and Mentor Angel, Derek works in Chicago AND his boss has season tickets to the Black Hawks!  His boss, generously offered to take us along, he’s a great guy, who loves his Chicago teams and knows everything about them!  We saw a great game (which Chicago won) had some great food and got to hang out for the evening, great way to stay relaxed.

 

One of the BEST things about this weekend was that my friends Dave & Elaine came to cheer me on (they brought Doot too)!   We met up on Saturday evening with Ben, Steven and Jennifer and headed over to the Team Imerman Angels dinner where we got to meet up with staff, volunteers and many of the Team Imerman Angels members who I would be running with the next day.  After that it was early to bed in preparation for race day.

 

Race Day:

The goal for this race was to finally break the 4:30:00 barrier (more on that later).  The forecast called for a chilly start to the race (8C) with the day getting progressively warmer (17C) for the finish.

The morning started with my normal pre-race meal, oatmeal and a banana and then a quick cab ride to the Charity Village to meet up with Team Imerman Angels and all of the volunteers and staff who we busy preparing pre and post-race refereshments and treats for us. 

Joan (Team Imerman Angels director) was on-site taking charge and making sure that everyone was accounted for, photographed, got their wings (see photo) and generally in the right state of mind (and body) to head out for their marathon challenge.

It was GREAT to get to meet so many people who had a connection with Imerman Angels and had decided to fundraise and train to run the Chicago marathon…a first marathon for many of the team. One of the people I met (in person finally) was Pascale an expat Canadian (see photo)

 

As we were walking over to the start line with the team and figuring out what corrals we were assigned to, we also started talking expected/goal times and informally sorted ourselves into groups that would run together for as long as our pace would let us.  The group of four I started with included Anthony, Becky and Pascale…us Canucks need to stick together ya’ know J

 

I’m not sure how or when we came up with this, but as we ran past each mile marker, we would call out the mile number followed by Ah, Ah, Ah…very Sesame street of us…hey you do what you gotta’  to keep yourself distracted during a marathon.

The crowd support was amazing!!! I can’t remember the exact number but there were people and signs everywhere…and a few personal connections along the way too. 

We got to see…actually hear then see Pascale’s mom several times during the race, she is a real ball of energy and just what you need when your own energy is waning, it was touching to see Pascale and her mom run together as they spotted each other and her mom checked in to make sure she was doing well.

Mile 13 was my energy boost as I got to see Dave, Elaine and Doot and get some high fives and a hug along with an acknowledgement from Elaine that I was ahead of pace…woohoo!!

I know I saw Dave, Elaine and Doot again and I think it was around mile 17, but my mind is a bit hazy on this one…their smiles, cheers and signs we a fantastic boost and helped me re-focus on the goal.

Mile 18(ish) was the only spot where the crowd support was thin…it’s in a business park and I am sure getting public transit there is a bit of a challenge, but you sure feel it when you don’t have the energy of the crowd to draw on, thankfully we had Pascale’s mom, with her exuberant cheers and her run along with Pascale to keep us going until we got to the crowds again..

I don’t remember exactly where the group started to split as we each began budgeting our energy and pace to make sure that we would cross the finish line upright and smiling, but at some point we all ended up running our own races.

I’m not sure if it was being out there alone, the lack of focus in training or the accumulated mileage, but somewhere around the 35k mark, things started to go downhill.  My pace was slipping, my energy was waning and the negative self-talk was starting.  I was becoming more and more certain that I was not going to make my goal time and started “letting” myself take more frequent and longer walk breaks…telling myself I wasn’t going to make the goal anyway..beginning to question why I was out here but catching myself each time I let my chin drop to my chest and felt dejected, my eyes saw the Imerman Angels logo on my jersey …and I would remind myself of what the survivors and cancer fighters I know have and are going through and that I got to choose to be out here, that I was raising awareness with each person who saw the jersey and making connections with the funds raised.

It wasn’t going to get me back on track for my goal time, but it was enough to get me started running each time knowing that I could finish this.

I must have looked especially dejected after the last water station somewhere around mile 25, because as I was walking and moping, another marathon runner, a complete stranger ran up behind me, tapped me on the shoulder and said “come on Brent, you’ve got this!” (our names are on the back of our jerseys), he then proceeded to run with me up to the 26 mile marker where he said “you’ve got this, you look strong now run it in! I’ve got to go run in some friends” and he was gone…I LOVE that about running! Thank you complete stranger!!

I did manage to run in the last .2 without assistance J to cross the finish line in a time of 4:40:58.  I got my bling, my mylar blanket and I swore that I was taking a year off of this marathon thing!

Post Race:

The walk from the finish line to Charity Village was about 1k which was a good thing (except for the stairs on the way out of the park) as I needed to keep moving.

As I got to Charity Village, I was greeted with smiles, hugs and congratulations from Dave, Elaine and Doot…it was soooo Great to have some familiar faces there after a very tough finish and a disappointing result. Perspective is everything and friends sure help you gain that quickly!

 

 

Post-race (post-shower) activities included a visit to Burke’s Bacon Bar (is anyone surprised) for a light snack with Dave, Elaine, Doot and a few of Dave & Elaine’s friends as well as a walk to Navy Pier to kill some time before meeting up with Ben, Steven (who also ran the marathon..super fast I might add), Jennifer and a few more of Dave and Elaine’s friends for Deep Dish pizza…and it was GOOOD!!!

 

 

Lesson learned:

Ya’ gotta respect the distance.  In hindsight, I think that I was too casual about this race, with it being my 5^th I was possibly too relaxed…I didn’t feel the normal pre-race nerves leading up to the race or even at the start line, which should have been a sign.

Although I was a little disappointed when I realized I wasn't going to make my time goal, I am grateful for the gift of fitness and for my amazing family and friends who are always so supportive!

Next up:

This year’s focus will be on triathlon and my first half iron distance in particular, I’m also hoping to PB in the ½ marathon distance in the fall, so it promises to be a fun, tough summer.  I hope to be more consistent about my blog entries too, so that you can all track my progress on my goals both in events and in fundraising/awareness for Imerman Angels.

If you’re in Ottawa, drop me a line and let’s get a swim, ride or run in together!