Chicago Marathon Recap

Sammy Wanjiru ran the fastest time on American soil on his winning performance in today's Chicago Marathon - 2:05:41. Great time, great race, I'm sure he is disappointed in not setting the world record, but I'm sure winning his 4th consecutive marathon major will more than make up for it :) Here's another article about him talking about his victory. On the women's side, Liliya Shobukhova won the women's race while Deena Kastor endured a nightmare day in her 6th place finish. Congrats to her regardless, and glad she is back to racing!

Yesterday, bummed around all day and watched a TON of football. Went out to dinner at the Cheesecake Factory in downtown Chicago, and got to bed early. Funny, I was talking with Shane before bed telling him I hadn't really thought much about the race and didn't feel nervous whatsoever, but totally jinxed myself and had the worst night's sleep you could possibly imagine.

Race Morning

Woke up ridiculously early in the morning, completely groggy. Ate breakfast, changed, then Anne took us downtown to Pat and Crystal's hotel where we hung out beforehand for a little bit. Weather was COLD, and wasn't too thrilled thinking about shivering away some much needed energy for the race. Their hotel was about a 10 minute walk to the start, so we walked over - the sun was coming up at this point, and was getting a ton warmer so felt much better about the temperature. Parted ways with Tim who was running in open corral, then checked in our bags at the seeded corral village which was not too far from the start. Did about a 10 minute shakeout warmup, felt pretty much ok at this point.

At the Start

Went to our starting corral and met up with Ken and peeled off a layer of clothes. Definitely had some butterflies going, and was anxious to get going. They did the national anthem, was starting to hit me that this day was actually here. Met the members of the 3:10 pace group, and settled in with them with a decent group of other runners. Huge advantage of our start corral was we were so far up front, so knew we would be crossing the start line relatively early.

Race Report

Gun went off then here we went! The beginning of the race goes through the heart of the loop in Chicago, and it never fails to amaze me how CRAZY it is! Saw a runner completely face plant under the first bridge, but kept going with Shane and Crystal. Since there was a mass clog of runners, was difficult trying to get into a rhythm with so many turns early on. Pace didn't feel too bad but really had trouble establishing pace. Because of all the tall buildings, my Garmin was a complete mess so will go with my 5K splits. [First 5K split: 22:27]

Came out of the loop and was heading north at this point. Tried to run on the side where Crystal's parents were going to be at, and was keeping up with the pace group ok. Still felt unsettled, but was getting better. What was helping was the road opens up when out of the loop, and the less turns made it easier in general. Kind of nice at this point to know that we were headed towards Lincoln Park and had some friends awaiting us. [Second 5K split: 22:18 - 10K split: 44:45]

Headed north, then came back down on Clark. At this point, started to feel pretty awesome and the pace was fine at this point despite having difficulty figuring out how fast we were really going since all our Garmins were reading all sorts of splits and our pacers seemed like they were going fast. Started running through familiar surroundings, then ran into some friends around mile 9. We run right by Anne's condo which is literally the 15K split, and saw her and Ben cheering and taking pictures of us. What was funny was I went to bump fists with Ben, wasn't paying attention, and almost slammed into some spectators because I wasn't paying attention. Did my best Barry Sanders impression, and was on my way feeling pretty jacked up. [Third 5K split: 22:15 - 15K split: 1:07:00]

Weaved back around the city and towards downtown again. Crystal and Shane started to gap me a little, and spent a lot of the next 5 miles running behind them right in front of our pace group leader. Legs felt fine, but ran into a freaking pothole at mile 11 and rolled my ankle slightly. Was pretty angry at myself and ankle felt really sore but tried to shake it out. Had completely settled in on pace at this point, so was rolling along. [Fourth 5K split: 22:25 - 20K split: 1:29:25]

Came into downtown again, then crossed the halfway point! We were just flying by the miles at this point, and it felt great. Saw Pat and Crystal's parents right past the 1/2 marathon split, then headed out west. Kind of had some weird flashbacks of last year, when I started to struggle a little a little past the halfway point. Kind of tried to get into good focus for this point, but still felt good. [Fifth 5K split: 22:25 - 1/2 marathon split: 1:34:26 - 25K split: 1:51:50]

Still headed strong, had completely caught up with Shane and Crystal at this point and were gaining ground on the 3:10 pace group ahead. Noticed Crystal was struggling a little at this point, and she was dropping back but coming back. In my previous marathons, mile 18 was my destruction point so wanted to make it through that point without any issues, which thank God I successfully did. [Sixth 5K split: 22:34 - 30K split: 2:14:24]

Caught up to Ken at this point, who had gotten ahead of us. Shane and I had settled in with the 3:10 pace group leader for the group ahead of us, and were doing pretty well. Hit Mile 20, where the real race begins and turned my hat around to signify that it was time to go to work. Told Shane to hit it 1 mile at a time, but could feel my body starting to get some weird aches and pains. At this point, was trying not to over react to any signs of pain, but hard not to when your brain is basically trying to get your body to calm down. Started playing mind games with myself to get through these final miles. [Seventh 5K split: 22:36- 35K split: 2:37:00]

Hit mile 22, and was definitely starting to get tired. Shane had told me to go ahead since he thought he was going too fast, but caught up to me and was leading the way these miles which I was pleasantly surprised to have him there with me. Helped a TON having him around, and we stuck through the majority of these later miles together. Talked to Ken at mile 22, and he was complaining of major cramping in his legs. Lost him completely at mile 24, and it was just Shane and I. Was definitely struggling at this point, and trying to just hang on for dear life since I knew the end was near. At this point, we are heading almost in a straight line towards the city, so having run this race knew what to expect. Was gobbling down as much Gatorade and water as I possibly could, grabbed bananas and orange slices, and GUed for the 3rd time at mile 24. [Eighth 5K split: 22:29 - 40K split: 2:59:29]

Was playing every mind game I could at this point. Really started to lose it emotionally, and was almost hyperventilating so had to have a quick talk with myself to get it together. Ran into Pat a little past the 25th mile marker, and he ran a little with me. Tried to make the calculation to see what I needed to run to hit 3:10, but my mind was a mess. Passed the pace group leader at this point and started picking up the pace because I was just ready to be done and knew I should be able to suck it up when it was this close. At the 1 mile to go sign, kicked it into a different gear, then made my way up the final hill before the last quarter mile. That hill is a beast - biggest incline of the race, and just sucks it's at the last mile. At this point, was totally losing control of myself, and just trying to bite my lip not to lose it. Made my turn up the hill, and the finish was just right there!!! Kicked down the last straightaway, sort of let up to enjoy the last 20-30 meters, then crossed the finish line in complete and utter disbelief. [Marathon time: 3:08:45 PR]

RESULTS

Peter Kim M30

Clock Time 3:09:44

Chip Time 3:08:45

Overall Place 1335/33608
Gender Place 1201/19041
Division Place 229/3129

Pace 7:12/Mile

Final Thoughts

I still don't know what to think about this actually happening. I have to think a little more about achieving this goal which seemed so unattainable before. Waited around the finish for everyone, and Shane finished right after me in 3:09:16 thus also qualifying for Boston in a ridiculous 30 minute PR!!!!! Congratulations Shane!!!!!!! Crystal finished not too long after - it turns out she took a nasty spill at mile 20, which explains why she completely disappeared from our radar, but regained composure later on and finished strong in a 7 minute PR of 3:16:23, also qualifying her for Boston yet again!!!! Congratulations Crystal!!! Saw Ken not too long after as well, he suffered a terrible death at mile 24 and his legs completely seized up and was forced to walk in. But he finished it out, and ran a great 22 minute PR in 3:20:48. Congratulations Ken!!!! Met up with Tim later, and he had the biggest PR of all in a RIDICULOUS 45 minute PR in 3:50:35. Congratulations Tim!!!!!!

So our group qualified 3 for Boston, PR's all around for all of us, and Shane and I have already signed up for our trip to Beantown :) Tim is going to run for charity as well, so we should have an amazing group trip for 2010! Tonight, celebration, celebration, celebration :) Afraid to take a nap and wake up to realize this was all a dream. Still in shock...