Race Recap: Big Ten Network 10k (& 5k)

"Why did I ever stop running races?"

That is the question that plagued my mind the afternoon and days following the Big Ten Network 10k / 5k on Saturday the 25th. Despite setting a PW (personal worst) during this race by FAR, I still realized that I had forgotten how much I enjoyed the environment and overall ambiance of race day. Here's how things went:

My brother in-law, Eric, and I got up at 5am to drive to downtown Chicago for the race. We parked near Solider Field ($20 - always a bummer) which was very close to the course and the festivities, however. This was Eric's first race EVER, and he informed me that he hadn't slept very well the night before due to nerves - rookie move.

We got there early enough to watch the 10k start at 7:00am as well as watch the first finishers cross the line. I still can't get over how fast the elite runners knock these things out! We also had plenty of time to walk around the grounds and check out all the festivities that were offered.

There were football combine activities such as field goal kicking, a 40-yard dash and vertical leap; a dozen bags / cornhole sets were set up to use; and each school had their own tent set up with goodies. Since Eric doesn't much care for college sports and I am a Wisconsin Badger through and through, we visited the UW tent. They had Paul Bunyan's Axe on display - the annual trophy that is rewarded to the victor of the Wisconsin v. Minnesota football game, as well as the West Regional trophy the men's basketball team won by defeating Kentucky earlier this year. I wonder what the other tents had. They were probably handing out written apologies to their respective fan bases.

The school mascots were out in full force as well, except Illinois. I'm guessing the P.C. folks still frown upon Chief Illiniwek galloping in on his stallion or something. Even though little kids were scrambling to get photos with the mascots, I made sure to push my way through for a nice shot with Bucky Badger. Gotta throw up the W!

                      

Finally it was time for the 5k to kick off and, as we were waiting for Corral C to make it to the Start Line, I repeated to Eric to just take off and leave me behind - since I knew there wasn't a chance that I was going to run the same pace as him. He'd been training for the last, few months and I'd put my running shoes on that morning (for the purpose of running) for the first time in a year or so (or at least it felt that way). I'd come to peace with the fact that this race was going to take potentially 50% longer than it ever has in the past, and that I just needed to gut it out and get it done.

Sure enough. The race took forever, and my feet / knees stopped wanting to work before anything else - they just were sick of shuffling this much weight around. And I don't blame 'em! It wasn't fun, but I finished - with a lousy time of 46:48. Woof. But definitely an eye-opener. I'm super proud of Eric, he knocked out his first 5k with a time of 30:26, after setting a goal of sub-31:00.

But even though I physically did not enjoy this race, it still made me want to get back into the swing of things. Eric quickly said he was already hooked, so hopefully he'll drag me along to more races. Time to look for the next one!