Zach Runs Chicago

Over the years I've had mixed reactions ( bad , good ) to the Bastille Day 5K & 8K Run,Walk & Block Party (starting with that lengthy title), but it has been around longer than I have (this will be it's 34th year!) and it remains a popular summer race in Chicago. I skipped it last year, but I'm ready to head back next month to check it out again. This year the race is in front of the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum again and takes place on Thursday, July 9th with the 8K kicking off at 7:15pm and the 5K kicking off 15 minutes later. One thing this race - which, according to the Special Events Management website "commemorates the French Revolution" - always has going for it is cool race shirt design ( the 2013 race shirt was my 2nd favorite of the year ) so I have high hopes for the event in that area. And this year promises an indoor post-race block party, which should be nice in mid-July. So without further pontificating, here is a code, good for ...

Every year Chicago adds a few more races to the running roster. In 2013 I ran 37 of them. And though I did repeat a few of the same races that I ran in 2012 I tried to find new ones as well, occasionally even making it outside of the city for those - I KNOW, what an explorer right? For 2012 I did a Top 7 Race Shirt post so I thought I'd do it again this year. It was actually harder this year to find seven shirts that I liked out of the 37. There were a lot more cotton shirts this year (both long and short sleeve), which could be because I ran eight less races than last year but could also just be a reflection of the races I chose to run (smaller, newer races). Probably it's a combination of the two. Either way, the trend towards athletic shirts that I noticed last year still seems to be holding true, but there is a bigger-than-you'd-expect contingent that is still holding out with the cotton (including one sweatshirt from the Muddy Monk Frozen Five). To me the key to ...

Did anyone else see who won The Bastille Day 5K ? Pssh. I bet his name is really James Gatz. And he's probably not even an Oxford man. Regardless, I snapped a picture of him a few minutes after his epic win: He's a pretty gracious winner. Also, I wish Tom Buchanan would have been in second place.

Well, well well. Tonight was the Bastille Day 5k/8k Run/Walk & Block Party in Lincoln Park (just north of the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum). I was originally registered for the 8K but, worrying about my IT band, I dropped down to the 5K just before the race (this change took all of 60 seconds at the registration table which was pretty impressive, especially since my time registered correctly afterwards). Anyway, before the race, the set-up looked good. Beautiful weather, lots of outdoor space, a good live band and lots of runners. I even tweeted about how promising it all was. And as I lined up on a blocked off Cannon Drive for the 5K with 943 other runners I still felt that way. I mean, these guys blocked off Cannon Drive, part of Fullerton and a big chunk of Stockton Drive. This was clearly nothing like last year's race .

So... the lengthily titled Bastille Day 5K/8K Run/Walk & Block Party happened last night. I think I hit the high points (or low points, as the case may be) in my NewCity review , but it wasn't a very well-organized event. But here's some additional observations and complaints: Because the 8K course was an out-and-back it took up both lanes on the Lakefront Trail for a while. There were several bikers riding down the middle of the trail, between the two lanes of runners. I've never seen that before. At the entrance to Belmont Harbor, there was a long line of cars backed up in either direction. When I ran past, the woman in the front car was standing beside her vehicle yelling at the guy stopping traffic, "HOW IS THIS NOT AVOIDABLE??!?!?" I don't know what she meant by that, but she was super-pissed and I almost wanted to stop running just so I could listen to an amazing (and most likely nonsensical) rant. The 5K and 8K courses rejoined at the end a...

Last week we had three days over 100 degrees (the Texan part of me thinks "And? That's it?" while the Chicagoan part of me is thinking "Jesus Christ, why was it so hot?"), but this week the hottest it's predicted to be is 88, starting on Thursday. A few weeks ago we all might have thought "88? That's going to be hot." but now I think we're all pretty excited about this "cool" weather. And as race organizers across the city look at this weather report for the week, they must be breathing numerous sighs of relief. Because there's a surprising number of evening races this week, while as far as I know there weren't any last week. Lucky coincidence for runners and organizers alike.  Anyway, there are three evening races this that I know of (two of which I'm running): Tuesday @ 6:30: The Strike Out ALS 5K - this one takes place at U.S. Cellular Field and, similar to how the Race to Wrigley lets runners run through th...