My 9th running of Chicago marathon and since this was my year off...there was no pressure of a time goal in mind. I was out to have fun.
Race morning was perfect!
Our room was on the 10th floor - knowing that there would be an endless wait for the elevator, I took the stairs:
My sister and niece, who were volunteering at water-stop # 2 (mile 3.5) left the room at 3:30AM. I rolled out of the room at 6:45 and strolled into Corral B which was right across from our hotel.
When the sound system kept switching off during the national anthem - the entire crowd was singing...first time I've heard a crowd of 30,000 singing...it was superb! The jets that were supposed to fly over, missed us :) I guess they flew over the lake instead! We did not get to see them.
The start was quick...
Then I asked myself, 'what is the hurry?'...and slowed down and just enjoyed the 1.7 million strong crowd that turns out to cheers us on. I made it a point to stop and take photographs of signs that the supporters were cheering us on with (some pretty funny ones), here are a few:
Looks like Jesse Pinkman was there
Sister and niece at the aid station:
I finished in 4:33:49 (results)- which was more than an hour slower than last year :))
