Christmas Running Kicks Off With the Santa Hustle 5K

Santas at the starting line

So it's December - which means that, as I said Friday, it's cold. But it also means that it's the holiday season. And that means that there are a bunch of holiday-themed races everywhere. Yesterday morning I ran one of the Christmas ones: the Santa Hustle 5K.

And, as I said in my Newcity review, it was a pretty good time.

There were around 5500 runners but, perhaps because of the gimmicky nature of the race, not that many in the first several corrals (from 5:00 minute miles to 8:00 minute miles). I - somewhat hopefully - got into the 7:30 minute mile corral before the race started (I ended up closer to 8) and they condensed everything up to 8:00 into one first wave. Though there were still a few runners who placed themselves up front incorrectly (as there are at any race) for the most part the start of the first wave was pretty clear, as was the rest of the run.

I used the Nike+ Running app to track my run for only the second time in preparation fro the Nike+ Chiberia Challenge and it said the course was 3.08, but we also went through a tunnel by McCormick Place so the GPS could have gotten off there.

Overall it was a good, fun race with a ton of volunteers along the course (all dressed as elves, which was cool until I started thinking that we were Santas and they were supporting us... but I guess that's how the elf/Santa relationship works).

Along the course and at the finish line there was milk and cookies, candy and some water for those who are silly enough to drink water when those other options are available.

I got a great post-race massage from NovaCare, ate some milk and cookies and headed back to the Roosevelt train station.

On the way home, while waiting for the Brown line to show up at Belmont, the Holiday Train pulled up. I was still dressed as Santa and the CTA Santa saw me and pointed and Ho-Ho-Ho'd... but then the train just kept going. Someone at our station must have been naughty or something. So I didn't get a Santa/Santa picture. Oh well. I did get to meet Rudolph at the race:

Which was good because the inflatable Rudolph was not having the best day:

Comments

Top 7 Chicago Race Shirts (and a Hat) of 2012

Remember when race shirts were pretty much guaranteed to be over-sized white cotton, seemingly designed so that you could wear them once (if you really wanted to show that you ran the race) and then probably never again? One side had the race logo and the other had about 20 sponsors. And the long-sleeve ones had little cuffs at the wrists to make sure you got that nice puffed sleeve look that no one has ever asked for. These days it seems like almost every race is giving out running shirts rather than old-school cotton, and mostly I'm thankful for this change because it seems like they spend more time picking an appropriate color and working on a legitimate design rather than just slapping their logo onto some cotton for you (although I did get a few race shirts this year that went with that style... surprisingly enough, those shirts aren't in my closet anymore). Anyway, pretty much every race includes a shirt. Some are awesome, some are terrible and some are just... shirt...

Winning a 5K and Being "That Guy" - P.A.A.W.R. to Empower 5K in pictures

Some organizations are not quite ready to organize 5Ks. And Pan-African Association (a group that provides "services and programs that benefit refugee and immigrant individuals and families") is one of those organizations. They have a great group of volunteers, an ideal location for a race and plenty of other well-organized family activities around the race (including dance lessons, kid's races, etc.). And though this was the second annual P.A.A.W.R. to Empower 5K (Pan-African Association Walk & Run to Empower Refugees and Immigrants), there was very little in the sense of "organization" around the 5K, which was scheduled to start at 10:30 (see schedule below) but didn't get going until 11:10. (seriously? 40 minute delay? yes, seriously). The "official" race schedule But before I start describing the bad parts of this event and sound like the Type-A runner that I am, I'd like to talk about all the good stuff. And there's plenty...

Your Guide to Chicago City Chase...

Before 6 hours of city chasing ...based on the challenges we did (and didn't) complete. If you did City Chase this year then maybe this list will remind you of the challenges you chose to take on (assuming there was some overlap). If not, maybe this will inspire you to take it on next year. If you're into the element of surprise (which is part of what makes City Chase so fun) then don't read any further (spoiler alert and all that). I won't be listing all the specifics about any of the challenges so there should still be some mystery around the challenges but this list should definitely give you a leg up if you're just looking to know more before you take this thing on yourself. For a review of the event as a whole (not a detailed recounting of this year's challenges) check out my Newcity review . Anyway, here we go. Since we picked up our packets and whatnot at one of the locations earlier in the week we didn't have to arrive at the starting lin...

Zach Runs Chicago

Search This Blog