Chicago marathon is only 10 days away! And, my marathon story from 2007

This year I'm not running it, nor am I volunteering, as I've done the last three out of four years. I'm looking forward to just being a spectator! I really hope to get out there and see the elite runners go by, including Joan Benoit Samuelson, who won the 1984 Olympic women's marathon in 1984. She's 53, folks, 53!, and is running Chicago to try to qualify for the 2010 Olympic Marathon trials. She needs to run a 2:46 or less. Good luck, Joan! She is really inspirational.

To put that time goal that in perspective, my fastest marathon -- and there's only been a couple that I've actually completed, unfortunately, is 4:54 (St. Louis, 2008). Which is slow, slow, slow, but hey, I ran the whole way and finished, so that's sometime. In theory Joan could run the marathon, cool down and stretch, take an ice bath and then a shower and grab breakfast and watch my poky butt finish, if I were actually running Chicago this year, haha.

Now, my Chicago marathon story...

The only Chicago marathon I've run was in 2007, the infamous HOT year. Race officials cancelled the race midway because it was so hot, which was hugely controversial at the time.

I had a rough start to that race. It was the first marathon I'd ever trained for and I made plenty of newbie mistakes throughout my training. Those include not listening to persistent aches and pains, particularly in my left calf, which wound up developing into popliteal tendonitis three weeks before the marathon, during the 20-mile run. I was devastated and cried and whined for days. I'm amazed my hub didn't toss me in Lake Michigan. But man, was I bummed.

I'm stubborn and decided I would at least try to walk/run the race and finish before the "end of the race" van, which crawls along the route behind runners. I think it would have been like a 6:30 finish, but whatever, I'd made it this far, I just wanted to cross the finish line.

On race day, my buddy Monee jumped in with me around mile 4 and bless her, stuck with me through mile 13. Man, it was blistering hot. Aid stations were out of water and Gatorade, so we relied on the kindness of strangers who handed us hoses, Gatorade bottles, cups of liquids, whatever. I was just pleased that I was able to alternate running and speed-walking just ahead of that van. I didn't even give a crap about the heat. I became quite obsessed with staying ahead of that van.

Alas, race officials called off the race when I was getting near the United Center, I think around mile 16 or so? Monee had bid farewell to me by then and I ran into a co-worker, with whom and thousands of other now-walking runners I walked the few miles back downtown. We got our medals -- pretty anti-climatic -- and I found my hub and teenage son and went home. And ate a giant steak for dinner that night.

A lot of people were so upset by the race officials' decision that day. I was strangely OK with how it worked out. I accomplished something -- I ran in my first marathon! And I stuck with running after that, and eventually got my first marathon done in St. Louis the following spring. Training for the Chicago marathon, weirdly, is what finally got me to kick my 15-year smoking habit as well, which is a story for another day. It all worked out. :-)