That was the temperature at 10:30 this morning while watching the Chicago Marathon. I heard later that the race was called off at about 11 am and all the runners that made it to the half way point at that time were diverted back to Grant Park. Any runner that had past this point would be allowed to finish. It was just crazy hot.
We went out there at 9 am to see the lead runners run by. We were sitting between the 19th and 20th miles about 1/4 mile away from the 20th mile. By 9:15ish, the two lead male on wheelchairs flew right by us. They looked so intense and did not even look like they were racing. It was amazing. A few more wheelchair racers flew by including the first female in the lead.
About ten minutes later, we saw some cars coming. One of the cars was the official pace truck that had the time on top of it. There was a cluster of 5 males running behind it. Their time was 1:38 at that time. It was really great. We cheered them on.
By then, more wheelchair runners were coming so we decided to take a walk along part of the course. I didn’t even realized how close we were to the 20 mile mark. Lots of people were rooting all the runners. There were little girls doing cheers. Loud speakers blaring feel good music. We got one of those cow bells so Diego had a field day clanking it while we were there.
About 20 minutes after the men leads ran by, we saw another pace truck coming. I knew the female lead runners were right behind them. Now that is what I was waiting for. It was really an inspiration to see them run in preparation for my half marathon. I just hope that it isn’t 90 degrees then. 🙂
see angie run 