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Running is a social thing for me. Hanging out with friends or family, putting in a good workout and grabbing a beer or two afterward is not a bad way to spend a day. There is only one problem. My friends and family are running less and less these days. Time to replace them huh? Just kidding.
The other thing I like is helping people who aren't as nuts as I am about running. Helpful tips, confidence or just making them feel good about their health is fun. Two years ago I got my first pacing gig at the Fort 2 Base 10 Nautical Mile run. That's 11.5 regular miles for those of you who weren't in the Navy. I enjoyed the whole experience. I got to run with some cool people and get in a training run at the same time. I couldn't do it last year due to injury but it did get me involved with the great people at Chicago Endurance Sports. So my name is on a list and the opportunity rolled around again this year. My assignment was the Soldier Field 10 miler. 8:30 pace group.
Finish Line Pre-race
Neon Green makes pacers easy to find I guess
A shout out to my co-pacer Rachel who was great. She ran Boston this year and wasn't too far from the finish when the bombs went off. She was also at the some convenience store the bombers were at the night before the race. Luckily all her friends and family were safe. Scary stuff.
You hardly notice the sign you have to carry for the race. The only reason I bring it up is that it was the most asked question that day. It was a problem holding a consistent pace. The weather was perfect for racing. So after trying to run a marathon at 8 minute pace, it was tough to hold it in check for a much shorter distance. It was very cool to cross the 50 yard line of Soldier Field as we finished. Even if it is in the house of the enemy. I'm a Green Bay Packer fan. But I restrained myself from doing this:
We finished 14 seconds ahead of our 1:25 pace time. In fact 92% of all the pacers in the race finished within thirty seconds of our time. Racers were treated to a Soul Asylum (meh) concert afterwards and some great Goose Island 312 beer. Not the usual MGD64 swill races try to push. Hopefully, we helped some people run a great race.
