Sunday, October 9, 2011

Chicago Marathon 2011


The marathon is over here in Chicago. The street sweepers have cleared up the empty Gatorade cups and plastic water bottles littering the ground. It’s impressive how quickly the streets were blocked off, shut down, and cleared out for the runners. A few hours later, and the streets are back to normal.

Steve and I arrived at our post near the 25-mile marker on Michigan Ave. at about 9:30 am. The elite runners were about half an hour away, but we wanted to make sure we didn’t miss them. Besides, it was a great opportunity to hang out with people in our neighborhood. We enjoyed talking to a lady who said her claim to fame was handing a cup of water to last year’s winner as he ran by the water station. She said she earned that honor because she happened to have the longest arms. Her little boy seemed just as eager for the race as she was and was excitedly pointing out all the policemen.

Leading off the marathon were the wheelchairs and hand bikes. The chair/bike riders were impressively beefy, not at all like you would expect long distance runners to look. I was surprised to see only about a dozen or so through the entire race, though.

Moses Mosop of Kenya
As the first runner came by, I was not surprised to see it was a Kenyan. His name is Moses Mosop and he was so fast, with a beautiful smooth stride. I was surprised to see him so far in the lead, though, with just the camera entourage around him. Last I knew from the news there were about eight or nine elite runners together in the lead. Moses won the marathon with a new course record time of 2:05:37. The American, Ryan Hall, came in fifth place.

Before the race started, I’d heard about the female from Russia, Liliya Shubukhova, who was vying for her third Chicago Marathon win in a row! I had forgotten to watch for her in all the excitement, but I managed to take a picture of her running by. I almost missed her, but I swear that is her leg and most of her face. She did end up winning overall female. Winning three consecutive years is a marathon record, male or female.
Liliya Shubukhova of Russia

Wanting to be closer to the big crowds and action, Steve and I made our way north on Michigan until we reached the hill leading to the finish line, which was close to the 26 mile marker on Roosevelt Road. The variety and number of runners passing by us for hours was entertaining and inspirational.

About four hours into the race came the people who really impressed me. They are the everyday, run for fun and fitness, here for the beer, not so elite, have little chance of winning crowd. My kind of people. Some were smiling. Some were grimacing. Some were limping and some were picking up speed heading up the hill for the last half mile. They are the ones I cheered and clapped for. They were running for friends, family, foster kids, stray animals, charities, cancer survivors and victims, and some were running just for themselves. I got a knot in my throat seeing their determination. When someone stumbled or slowed, I wanted to run out and help them. These people were reaching deep inside themselves to bring out the best they had in order to get across the finish line. It was so inspiring.

Finally saw a tutu halfway through the race!
For a lot of people, the marathon is about who wins. For others, it’s all about who finishes. For me, the real winners are those who start. Winning, or even finishing, the race doesn’t happen if there is no start. One single step forward is all it takes to begin. That step doesn’t even happen the day of the race. For many people it starts months in advance. First, there’s the decision to run, goal setting, then planning and training. Today, 45,000 people followed through on their decision by showing up at the starting line. Not everyone finished. I saw a few people taken away by wheel chair. The fact that not everyone finishes will not deter me from starting.

Today, a man I know (Congratulations Rob!) ran his first marathon in Portland, Oregon. During my time at Brundage Bootcamp, he was very supportive and motivational to me. I am so proud of him for running and I want to join the group of marathon runners he became a member of today. Tears came to my eyes as I considered my own purpose and reason for running the Chicago Marathon. Perhaps I will share my reason some day. But not today.

Hill near the finish.
Today, I take my first step towards finishing. I have decided to run the 2012 Chicago Marathon.

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