Human Racin'

Nike Plus Human Race
Distance: 6.32 miles (according to the Garmin)
Time: 1:17:25 minutes
Pace: 12:15 minutes/mile

I had mixed feeling about this race. First in all the emails that were sent out it stated that parking was going to be $10, but when we pulled into the parking lot it was actually $18 and we were told to “take it up with Nike.” Nice.

This race was insanely crowded. As we lined up the race directors were announcing the times to beat from other races around the world. I have to admit that seeing thousands and thousands of people lined up wearing the same red shirt was pretty damn cool. The race started in waves and was a very similar course to the CDC except in was a 10K instead of 13.1 miles. This became a problem since there were more people running this race then the CDC and there was less time to space out. Normally I am the back of the pack and I hardly ever never feel crowded during a race, but through-out the entire race I was dodging and weaving around slower runners (yes I guess there are some out there) and walkers.

Even though this was a night race, the weather still made it difficult to run. It was insanely humid, to the point that I looked as though I had just gotten out of the shower. I was soaked in sweat. I didn’t think it was possible to get so sweaty without the sun beating down on you… but I was wrong. In the finish area there was ice though which was nice, even if thousands of people were sticking their sweaty hands and arms in the ice bins.

The race was supposed to start at 6:30 and Fall Out Boy was supposed to start their performance at 8:22 and play until 9:22. Unfortunately the race didn’t start until 6:45ish and I didn’t cross the start until a few minutes after 7. This meant that by the time I finished the race, met back up with the other people I had come with, and picked up our bags at gear check, Fall Out Boy was already performing. It was cool to walk onto Soldier Field and get as close to the stage as the crowd allowed, but I was walking back to my car by 9:20 and we didn’t leave the concert until the lights came up. I looked on people.com to see if Ashlee Simpson had given birth since that is the only understandable reason that they would not play until the posted time… but I did not see anything. Not cool Pete Wentz.

Overall I would say this race was more about the experience of being part of a race that was also raced in twenty-something other cities all over the world, then the actual race. It was also beautiful seeing the city skyline at night and racing on the lakefront path in the dark.