Zach Runs Chicago

"The older I get and the more I learn, the less I know with certainty. And that actually feels right, although I really can't say exactly why." - Ed Ayres Since I can't really run right now (curse you IT band), I've been reading running books instead. I just finished The Longest Race: A Lifelong Runner, an Iconic Ultramarathon, and the Case for Human Endurance by Ed Ayres (a distance runner with a half-century running career) and definitely recommend it. As a running addict myself, I've written and read my share of race reports (many on this site, obviously) and, when you break it down, Ayres' book is essentially a 200-page race report. The race in question is the 2001 JFK 50 Mile , a trail race that starts in Boonsboro, Maryland and covers sections of the Appalachian Trail. It's been going on since 1963 in response to JFK urging Americans to get in better shape in an article in Sports Illustrated called "The Soft American" and his

You may remember that I actually won a 5K a few weeks ago . Give me a moment to think about that feeling again. That lady in the tent looks so serious because she's guarding my gear check bag.  Right. That's what it feels like. Okay. The race (the PAAWR to Empower 5K ) started 40 minutes late, so after it was over I stuck around for a while, ate a really tasty black bean tamale and a not-so-tasty fish taco, chatted with some other runners, watched people play soccer... and then realized that even though there was an awards ceremony scheduled for noon, the odds that it would actually take place anywhere near that time were pretty low. Also I didn't know if there was any kind of medal or prize for first place anyway. So despite the fact that I have stuck around for way too many awards ceremonies that had nothing to do with me, I left the only race I will ever win without attending the awards ceremony where the crowning achievement of my running career would have be

Saturday morning in sleepy suburban Burbank, me and those two awesome runners in the picture over there --> ( Erica and Fuzzy ) were trying to think of good adjectives for just how sunny it was: rather plentifully impressively emphatically Luckily, the race we were registered for had already taken care of this issue for us in the title. Whoever named the first annual Super Sunny 5K, coordinated by Garden Center Services  and brought to my attention by fellow runner and Garden Center Services employee Annabelle  is either extremely lucky or has amazing weather prediction skills, because the race name fit the morning perfectly.  Burbank is about a 40 minute drive from Chicago and the only other time I've been here was for the similarly weather-themed  Frosty 5K back in January. And, as it turns out, this race follows the same course, starting and finishing in the parking lot of the ever-popular Henry Lang Recreation Center. Surprising to almost no one, the weather