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Sunday double-header!

After the Run to Remember yesterday, today was a double-header, starting off with the 4-mile C4 Miles at 8 this morning in front of Peggy Notebaert and wrapping up with the 5-mile Cinco de Miler at 9:30 in Montrose Harbor. I was a little nervous about being able to make it to both, but I ended up with time to spare (thanks to the help of a cab that dropped me off at the packed turn-off to Montrose Harbor). Biking from the first race to the second would have been ideal... but I don't have a bike. And I wasn't about to run the three miles between the races carrying my gear check bag.
Turn-off at Montrose Harbor
Anyway, my complete reviews of both races are up on Newcity.com:
The races really couldn't have been more different:

Starting line at Cinco de Miler
C4 Miles was a quiet, relatively casual event, with probably around 350 participants (half running/half walking) and no pace groups. Since runners quickly got spread out, other runners on the trail sometimes seemed confused about what I was doing running with a bib. Two guys running together even asked me what I was running (before blowing past me). Still, it was kind of refreshing to run with so few people and I ended up getting 12th place! Overall it was a chill race with a nice vibe and I really liked the energy from the volunteers.

The Cinco de Miler was a change of pace. A lot louder, a lot bigger - around 5000 runners, divided into 10 waves (lettered A-J) - and a lot more competitive! A new wave started every 90 seconds, which allowed the course to easily accommodate everyone without ever feeling crowded. As part of the Media Team for this race I was thankfully given a distinctive blue shirt to wear during the race (which was nice considering that I was still wearing the same sweaty shirt from C4 Miles!)
RAM Racing Media Team

The Cinco de Mayo theme was perfectly played throughout the event - not overdone but definitely incorporated. Having a live mariachi band performing along the course was a great addition and I was happy I was able to snap a picture of them the second time they appeared.

Post-race beer!
And then there was the beer (Modelo) after the race! I used to think beer after a race was a little weird, but it's been growing on me this year. And after finishing both races, and digging into two breakfast burritos I was definitely ready for some beer today. I did find out that Chicago has an ordinance that doesn't allow you to serve beer at an event before 10:30 in the morning. Interesting and arbitrary... but I'm originally from Texas where you can't even BUY alcohol on Sundays, so this doesn't really strike me as heavy-handed.

One of the coolest parts of today was meeting another guy (Curtis) who also ran the trifecta of runs this weekend (Run to Remember, C4 Miles and Cinco de Miler). I met him before C4 Miles, where I was wearing my Run to Remember shirt. He asked if I ran it yesterday and then asked if I was planning to run Cinco de Miler afterwards. We high-fived our over-indulgence. I saw him again after the Cinco de Miler and found out he'll also be at the Spring Half next weekend! Hopefully I'll see him there.

Anyone else running next weekend?

Comments

  1. 2 races in one morning is crazy! Well done on both of them :)

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  2. The Cinco de Miler looks fun! Also is the ordinance a Chicago thing or county thing? I remember it used to be your couldn't buy/serve alcohol before noon on Sundays, at least in the suburbs.

    I'm running the Quarryman 10 in Lemont next weekend.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I don't know if it's a Chicago or a county thing... I was talking to the guy who organized it and he just said it was a regulation and I didn't think about which area might be the one that set that regulation. Good question, though.

    The Quarryman 10 sounds pretty awesome! Good luck!

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