Chicago Marathon: From the Runner's View

The Chicago Marathon is an amazing event where the whole city comes together as a community to watch and cheer on 40,000 people crazy enough to run over 26 miles. It's an amazingly scenic course with neighborhoods pulling together entertainment and support.This year I ran with a disposable camera to show what the runners see as we run the course.
The race starts at Grant Park in the heart of downtown Chicago:

There are so many people it takes 20 minutes just to cross the starting line. People wear old sweatshirts to keep warm in the morning and toss them right at the start. Since it was already 65 degrees at the start of the race, there wasn't the usual amount of sweatshirts being thrown around. This was good for not accidentally getting hit in the face with a sweatshirt, but a bad sign that it was going to be a hot and hard marathon.
The race winds through downtown and heads north towards Wrigley Field.

It looks just like a huge sea of people. The first 7 miles are actually a mess where everyone is trying to dodge and break through masses of runners. You're supposed to start according to pace, but nobody really does this and for miles you'll have bottlenecks, people going too slow, and people trying to dodge around. I learned it's too early to waste my energy dodging around so I try to run a slower first half.

The spectators are one of the best parts of the race; I honestly don't think I could do it without crowd support. They line the course with signs, costumes, and words of encouragement. I have my name written on my top so people can actually call out to me by name. It feels like you're part of a big parade and I just have to be careful to keep the fist-pumping and high-fiving to a minimum because I know I'll need that energy later.

Boystown, at mile 8, is one of my favorite areas. Filled with male cheerleaders, live bands, the twirling gun brigade, and incredible crowd support. They even choose a theme, this year it was Superheroes:

Usually there are a lot more runners in costume. I've seen full out gorillas, lots of wings and wigs, and even firemen in full gear. With the heat this year, I didn't see that many costumes, but I did see this guy dressed as the Eiffel Tower:

The race heads back downtown passing singing Elvis, people sitting on sidewalks in bathrobes and full on breakfast spreads, and lots of crowd enthusiasm. It's really easy to go with the excitement and use up your energy too quickly. I saw a lot of people already starting to walk at mile 3, but by Mile 11 a lot of people had already started losing energy: From this picture it looks like nearly everyone is walking.

The next few miles are brutal, heading west with absolutely no shade. It's at this point I always start to lie to myself and say just to get through the next 5 miles and I'll only have 5 miles left--anyone who can do math can see how wrong this is, but with my exhaustion, somehow it makes sense.
I run the entire thing because I know if I stop, I won't be able to start again. The only exception is I do a brisk walk through the Gatorade stations. I've learned that Gatorade can be slippery, as can some of the banana peels being thrown on the course:

We wound through Pilsen for mile 19.

The crowd support is amazing with the restaurants and people coming out from their homes to give runners pretzels, ice cubes Twizzlers, the occasional spray from the hose, and entertainment by these huge guys:

Mile 20 we they gave us sponges soaked in water.By then I think it hit over 80 degrees. I saw one sign on the course saying it was 96 degrees. I don't know if it was right, but on the shadeless course it definitely felt that way. A lot of people were walking, or had stopped completely and were stretching on the side. You can see how much the crowd had panned out:

 The next highlight is heading through Chinatown. You hear a big roar, see the dancing dragons and race through hoards of screaming spectators. This year the heat even slowed down the dancing dragons:

And it's after this that things really start to get brutal. There is a slight incline as we head towards Comiskey and literally everyone around me was walking. This is terrible for morale, not to mention I had to dodge and weave through everyone walking.
Besides lying to myself about how few miles I have left, the other thing I do to deceive myself is smile big. I figure, if I'm smiling I can't really be in pain. Plus, the spectators love a happy runner and I get a lot more cheers. I was cursing my lack of training, as that last mile was the worst I think I have ever experienced in a race. Then I saw some familiar faces:

The pooches came out in costume to support me and the 39,999 other runners. I was so fatigued I could barely hold the camera straight:

E said I was looking good, but I still had about 1 more mile. The worst part is the final .2 is on a hill. So many people are shouting and cheering us on. I had to pullover to snap a photo of the finish:

This made me remember why I love marathoning, even though the heat made everything move in slow motion. E and the pooches were very proud of me, and Miss M loved licking my salty legs:

The pooches actually had their own exhausting experience serving as spectators. It is really exhausting to have the pressure of finding your runner, moving to different locations, and keeping the runners motivated. Tomorrow E is writing a post from the spectator's point of view.
 And someone was so proud of their marathon experience, they proudly wore the finisher's medal all night: