Zach Runs Chicago

Last weekend I was in Zihuatanejo, Mexico for a friend's wedding, so it seemed only fitting to be running the Cinco de Miler this weekend as a follow-up. I had a good time last year and have been looking forward to running it again (though not as a double-header with C4Miles and not even as a back-to-back run with the  Run to Remember ). I enjoyed both those races last year but both were yesterday morning and I was volunteering with the Northwest Side Housing Center to clean up a vacant lot (because I'm a really outstanding citizen, okay). Also, my knee has been hurting and I figure I better not push it more than I already am by running multiple races for a while. This is what happens when you turn 30 I guess...

So, as you may remember, in November Newcity released its Best of Chicago 20th anniversary edition and I had a number of running-themed items in there. Last month (last year at this point), Newcity released its 2012 Top 5 of Everything issue . To view Newcity's entire Top 5 list for 2012 (there's some good stuff over there), follow the link above, but below are the two running-themed lists that I submitted. While I didn't run every race in Chicago last year, I ended up finishing out the year with a total of 45 races under my belt (only the Athens Classic Marathon was outside Chicagoland) and I feel pretty good about these choices. Top 5 Chicago 5K Races of 2012 Ravenswood Run (April 29) Chinatown 5K (July 14) Terrapin 5K (August 2) Burgers & Beer 5K (August 20) Carrera de los Muertos (November 3) Top 5 Chicago Races Longer Than a 5K of 2012 Bank of America Shamrock Shuffle 8K (March 25) Cinco de Miler (May 6) Soldier Field 10 Mile (May 26) P...

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: C4 Miles review Cinco de Miler review 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 go...