What is it with high schools and road races? A few weeks ago, I reported how the Glenbard South High School volleyball team was out to cheer on runners at a Wheaton 5K/10K. This time, it is West Chicago's Wheaton Academy. They are working the Chicago Marathon.
Wheaton Academy's Bill Bickhart, Department Chair for Health and Physical Education, says they have 60 students, teachers, parents and friends of the school coming out. For eight years, they have been gathering up the troops and heading downtown.
Look for the Wheaton Academy Warriors at the Mile Marker 3 just north of the Chicago River on LaSalle St. The first runners will pass there at around 15 minutes. See link to map below.
Is your high school involved in a road race? Drop me a line and let me know.
As I noted last week, I applaud each of you who are running the Chicago Marathon. You have endured a lot of training, aches and pains, and early mornings. You inspire me.
Jody Cantey of Wheaton, IL wants to qualify for the 2011 Boston Marathon. That's not her only reason. She says it's "great head and heart time out there; step after step after step after step." She finds something viscerally special in just going out for a run, as she is "reliving the child's unappreciated freedom." How often do we as adults get to go out and play?
The cost of a marathon does intimidate me. I admit it. Scares the daylights out of me. It isn't so much the 26.2 miles on race day, which is plenty long in its own right, but the training getting there. Talking about running is easy. I can do that all day long. Some 45,000 of you — all registered for the October 10 race, however, have gone from talking to doing. You looked intimidation in the face and ran all over it.
Karina Dulin in Florida looks at the cost beyond just the training. There's stuff she needs to buy. She claims will need at least three pairs of shoes as she trains. "My knees tend to start feeling the pavement when my shoes have about 200 miles on them and I usually run about 500 miles in one training cycle," explains Dulin. (She expounds on the cost here: http://homesweetcircus.wordpress.com/2010/10/08/the-cost-of-marathon-training/)
My excuses have worn thin with at least one reader. Joel Sanders of Champaign, IL, has challenged me: "Meet me at the start line of Chicago’s 2011 marathon and allow me buy you a beer at the finish. So you can either hold my gear during the race, or run it."
Well, Joel. I don't want to hold your gear. I'm thirsty, and I prefer trappist ales. See you next October. Should I get a t-shirt made, "Will Run for Beer"?
What about you? Do you have any running goals for the next year? Will you line up with Joel and I?
Running Song of the Week
Rock Around the Clock by Bill Haley and His Comets
Two and half minutes of 1950s rebellion. This early rock and roll hit served as the theme to the movie "American Graffiti" and the TV series "Happy Days."
Sing along now:
We're gonna rock around the clock tonight,
We're gonna rock, rock, rock, 'till broad daylight,
We're gonna rock around the clock tonight.
2010 Chicago Marathon map
Track a marathoner
For an insightful look at running and imbibing, see Joe Kita's Runner's World article "Beer and Running"
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Writer Anthony Trendl loves BBQs, folk music and porches. Recently divorced from his couch, he looks to running as he battles midlife and his mid-section. Find out more at http://anthonytrendl.com/The_Red_Bandana.html
For more about my running adventures, see A Runner’s Dilemma (workout details, videos and more): http://runnersdilemma.blogspot.com/
The Red Bandana: Finding Fitness Through the Joy of Running
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