Saturday I ran the Soldier Field 10 Mile here in Chicago for the first time. This was the 9th annual running of the race and it has become the popular start of the summer running season, with all 18,000 entries sold out this year. As I wrote the other day, Soldier Field is a 5 minute walk from our place, so I was excited for the chance to run a race on my “home” turf.
The race started at 7am, and I took advantage of being so close by sleeping in until 6 and then grabbing some yogurt before heading over to the start. We made the short walk over to the start just outside the stadium and I was in my corral by 6:40am. The moments before the start of the race are always an interesting time. My preference is to show up to a race as close to the start as possible and then just start running. If I get there too early, I find myself standing around anxiously waiting for the start. But the logistics of these bigger races usually require racers to line up in their corrals early so the start can go off smoothly.
The Soldier Field 10 made good use of the pre-race time. Not lost on the event organizers was the fact that the race was taking place on Memorial Day weekend at Soldier Field (“Dedicated to the Men and Women of the Armed Services”). The pre-race festivities featured several tributes to active military members (including some running in the race) and veterans, and included a moment of silence, a playing of “taps”, presentation by the color guard and of course the singing of the national anthem. It was very well done, and put the holiday weekend and race into perspective.
The race employed a wave start to eliminate the crowding of runners along the course. I was in corral 2 and started with the horn 5 minutes after 7am. The course began just outside of Soldier Field, heading south under McCormick Place and then on to Lake Shore Drive. Just before mile 5, the course made a sharp turn on to the lake front running path racing north for the final 5 miles back to Soldier Field. I started off at a pretty aggressive pace, but realized that I needed to back off a bit and save some the 2nd half. The issue of the day was the strong wind coming out of the northeast. Heading south for the first half the wind was great, but at the turn we met the wind head-on and it wasn’t fun.
(Last week in Green Bay it was the heat, this week the wind. If you’re wondering if I’m going to have a weather excuse for every race I run this year, the answer is yes).
We suffered through the headwind and made it back along the lake front before heading into Soldier Field. One of the selling points of the race is the opportunity to “Finish on the 50”. Just after hitting the 9.5 mile mark, the course turned into the underground entrance to the stadium, wound under the stands, before heading out of the tunnel on to the field for a short sprint to the finish at the 50 yard line. It was pretty cool. They projected the finish on the stadium video boards and announced the names of the finishers over the PA system as they crossed the finish line. Fans were allowed into the stadium and cheered from the lower bowl.
Recalling it all now, a few days later, it’s a bit fuzzy. I remember various parts like coming out of the tunnel on to the field, but overall I was in that last mile zone where I was just pushing as hard as I could to get to the finish. I came in just over an hour and twenty minutes, a little slower that i had hoped, but not surprising giving the windy conditions of the day. I grabbed a water on the field before exiting out of the stadium.
Overall, this was a great race. The race organizers do an excellent job given the number of participants and the volunteers were great. I really like the 10 mile distance and the course was flat and fast (aside from the wind). As long as I’m in Chicago, I’ll likely keep running the Soldier Field 10 Mile.