Anyone from the UK running Chicago this year? What about people who have already run Chicago? Post your questions and comments here about the event.
For me, I'm trying to figure out the best time and day to fly over, to minimise/get over any jet lag. Any seasoned marathon travellers able to share their tips on how to handle long flights?
Comments
I'm running Chicago this year. It'll be my 9th marathon, but first time running Chicago.
I fly over from Glasgow on the Thursday. I've ran the Disney marathon in Florida twice having flown over a couple of days before the race with no ill affects. It's an early start for the marathon, so jet lag shouldn't be too much of an issue. In truth you don't want to shift too much from UK time as you'll be up early to eat pre-race anyway.
Travel tips. Wear your race shoes on the flight. Put as much of your running gear in your hand luggage that you can. Drink plenty during the flight to stay hydrated.
That's a very excellent point you raised, Eggyh73. I just checked the starting time and it's 7:30 a.m. I'm more used to later starts myself, e.g. 9-10, plus the marathons I've normally run outside the UK are in continental Europe with a +1 hour difference to the UK. So I think I'll probably arrive in Chicago 2-3 days before race day, i.e. Thursday or Friday.
Also have you found any reasonable accommodation in Chicago, preferably one that is close/walking distance to start and finish line?
It's an early start and as you'll be up early to eat before it I think arriving on the Thursday or Friday and having a couple of early nights and early starts will set you up well for the race day.
I checked out the accomodation as soon as I knew the date for the marathon. I've booked a one bedroom apartment, which is fairly close to the start at Grant Park. The apartment is near Navy Pier. I booked it using www.vrbo.com. I got a good deal on that, but I did notice the hotels in that area are very expensive for the marathon dates.
That's not too far from where I'll be staying.
What sort of time are you aiming for in Chicago?
I was in Paris last weekend too. I ran a 3:49, which was a PB and beat my target time by ten minutes. I'm currently thinking of aiming for a 3:45 for Chicago.
I did do a google for the Chicago profile and apparently it looks something like this:
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I liked the course in Paris. It did have lots of gentle inclines and declines, but no real hills in it. I'm used to running on far more hilly terrain.
I've heard the weather can be unpredictable for this one. I hope to strike lucky twice this year as the conditions last weekend were pretty much perfect for me.
Gary - Should be a good race for a first marathon. I'll be in Chicago Thursday to Monday, then heading down to NYC for a few days.
I'm currently planning on doing an 18 week training plan, so begining of June for me.
I've been to Chicago before, but it was 1997 so I'm sure it's changed a bit since then!
OH and I did this one a few years ago and it was a blazing hot day, the previous year it had been snowy, so the weather can be very unpredictable. It is a wonderful event.
The jetlag will work in your favour! You will be jumping out of bed ready for brekkie while the locals are bleary eyed. Just make sure you stay hydrated on the flight.
The course was very enjoyable and the support amazing. Chicago really embraces the marathon and I don't think there were any dull sections of the course. Memorable highlights were the 'military fairies' and drag queens dancing and singing in Boystown, college students offering beer, margaritas etc in the student district, the many many houses with music blasting out and parties happening outside.
If you want to turn it into a two centre holiday, also worth thinking about the trains. Chicago is the main Amtrak hub and we booked a sleeper train to Washington after the race. Amazing scenery, good food and interesting company - the train went through Pennsylvania, so quite a few Amish travelling. Pretty reasonably priced as well. We are planning to do Chicago again in the next few years and will do the sleeper train to Sacramento afterwards, to make it an even more adventurous break!
I've not ran Chicago before, but the weather is really pot luck. Looking at recent years they've had both extremely warm days and bitterly cold days on the day of the marathon.
you have to register at the expo, the groups are free and you need to go to the expo to pick up your race pack and number anyway so it shouldn't be to much of a hassle, i was planning on doing it, however if you dont and just turn up on the day guess they can't stop you running with them!
has anyone else registered for a seeded start yet? dont exactly need the time of a kenyan (a half faster than around 1hr 52) I thought it'd be worth it for a less congested start
how did you find london? done many marathons before? the expo is around 5 miles, still in the city centre and im sure there'll be plenty of other people heading that way, transport should be easy enough
the corrals seem the way to go, crossing the line with 4000 people, rather than 1 of 35,000 in the general start, also the pace teams below 4 hours start from the seeded start corals so if your going to aim for one of these you might find yourself struggling to catch up at the start from the open start
My training is starting to get there, lost a bit early on due to having a cold. It was 18 miles for me this morning and that hurt. Got my first 20 planned for next weekend. Think my fitness from running Paris earlier in the year is helping.
How is your calf muscle? Be careful with that. I did mine last summer and was out for weeks.
How many 20 milers do you have planned before Chicago? I only did 1 last time round ( London, my first marathon) and it wasnt enough!! Think I might try and get in 2 or 3 this time.
I'm planning on doing the same as I did for Paris this year, so that's 3 x 20, 1 x 21 and 1 x 22. In the past I've done three or four, but after smashing my target time for Paris I'm working on a don't change what worked theory.
That was a great time for your first marathon, far better than my 5:16 at Disney back in 2007. I got that down to 3:49 in Paris this year, but that was marathon number 8 for me.
For the calf just make sure you get stretching it plenty. It did take a while before I felt like I could trust to push on mine again after tearing the muscle last summer, but thankfully these days it's not been causing me any further issues.
I would love to think my marathon times could improve as much as yours Eggyh73; they really are amazing!! My first priority for Chicago is just to try and avoid the horrible last 6 miles I had in London. Better pacing is going to be my motto!!
I got my first 20 mile LSR in for Chicago yesterday. I must admit that last couple of miles really hurt. Glad to have that one done and dusted.
You're times will improve. The more you do the more you find out what works for you and waht to avoid.