Marathons : Chicago, New York, Twin Cities, Berlin, Antarctica.....

Can you all believe this? Not only does it seem like we ran the Chicago marathon last year, now even the New York marathon is behind us, and what a perfect day for running it was in NY this year. After 3 years of unseasonably warm weather, the temperature hovered around 40 around starting time and did not pass 50. By the time the race started the sun came out and there was absolutely no wind. That combination was perfect for the spectators to which class I and the other NY SLG'ers were relegated this year and it actually was fun to watch and cheer.
But first a little rehash of Chicago, for posterity or something. I loved the Chicago marathon! I thought it was well organized, I loved the flat course and I liked the way my race went, the fact that I managed to run a pretty constant pace the whole way.
The race told only part of the story though. I think everybody agrees it was a great weekend, starting Friday afternoon when most of us descended upon Chicago. It was fun to run into each other accidentally on the street or at the expo. It was enjoyable to meet for drinks Friday night at the Clark Street Ale house.
I enjoyed the jog On Saturday afternoon (in perfect weather running conditions) to Grant park and explore the the start/finish area and I thought all the panicking about the worsening weather forecast with rain and snow was funny (in retrospect)
Petra and Philippe chose a really fun and delicious place for our Saturday night pasta dinner at Mia Francesca and getting there with our group on the Subway was definitely a bit of an adventure.
And then there was the marathon itself of course, meeting up in the lobby of the hotel, walking to the start (what a joy is that compared to schlepping to Staten Island), meeting up with David and Grant and wishing each other good luck before going our separate ways. Hop Hop Super!!!
I think everybody was pretty happy with his/her time. I know that several people were vying for the "catch me if you can" trophy and in hindsight I guess I am not surprised that the award went to Gil (who is taking his job as the King very seriously and ran around with a crown on his head last Sunday at our post NYC marathon party. I had high hopes for David but I feel some pride that I still got the best of him (by 45 seconds)). I actually feel pretty smug that I was still able to hold off all the younger men in the group (but I am VERY AWARE that the amount of marathons in which I can do that are extremely limited, that number might actually be 0). I think it is neat that out of 13 runners, 7 of us finished 11 minutes apart and it is great that Erik and Dora set a new PR by 42 and 41 minutes respectively. Don't call me on the rounding errors here. And of course, congratulations to Patrick for finishing first among SLG'ers.
So, in case anybody needs to ever check this, here are the results again. Of course for splits and other stats, you can access the Chicago marathon website.
Patrick 3:18:44
Clem 3:29:09
Gil 3:32:19
Lief 3:48:42
David 3:49:25
Stefan 3:52:22
Erik 3:53:39
Mike 3:54:30
Larry 3:56:47
Steve 3:59:47
Philippe 4:04:53
Dora 4:17:27
Grant 4:39:14
And then of course, there was the party. Thanks again Petra and Philippe and also thanks to Petra's mother Lucienne for preparing a wonderful spread.

In the days after Chicago, Stefan tried to persuade me to run the New York marathon but after a few back and forths, wisdom seems to have prevailed and we finally decided not to run it.
Stefan and I were not the only people that were afflicted by a runners high. People were suggesting all kinds of races and endeavors : I think it was Erik who found the Antarctic marathon, Stefan wanted to do a thriathlon, and Philippe was ready for a relay race of several hundred miles : "From Mount hood to the coast" Is this when we say, bring it on? And although Gil had decided that he was retiring after Chicago , he came back from the New York marathon expo with about 7 brochures for marathons in his pocket : Miami, Berlin, Rome, Paris, Greenland...
Then last week Friday he and I ran into this group of people (7 men and one woman) who definitely had something to do with running. One of the guys complimented Gil on his "Nice Chicago Marathon Hat" and that of course was enough to get Gil gushing about how he ran the Chicago marathon and it was on October 22nd etc. When I pointed out to Gil that I had a sneaky suspicion that this guy knew when the Chicago marathon is run, he did admit that he was the Chicago marathon race director. The woman in the group, Virginia, turned out to be the race director for the Twin City marathon and was definitely recruiting us to run the most beautiful urban marathon next year on October 7th, 2007. She informed us that registration starts sometime in April (coinciding of the home opener of the Minnesota Twins) and that the race is sold out in two and a half weeks. I wonder whether Steve and Larry paid her money to recruit us so openly. After all, they suggested in Chicago already that we should come to the Twin City marathon next year. Maybe they should do a presentation with an onsite visitation so that the the founding fathers can decide whether the facilities are up to SLG standards. Haha!! By the way, the London marathon race director was also in that group and although he suggested we'd run his race, he seemed less persuasive than Virginia.
I have to admit, I find the Twin City marathon a bit tempting to run. It is ONE FULL MONTH BEFORE The New York marathon, and although I think that 2 weeks recovery is not quite enough, maybe if we would have a month in between, we could run New York on November 4th (after running the Twin City marathon on October 7th) Just a thought. (More laughter or frowned faces from the readers here)
As for the New York marathon this year,I did wonder about the sanity of my decision not to run it when Sunday morning dawned as a picture perfect day for running, 40 degrees at the start, with a maximum temperature of 50 degrees, sunny and no wind. But once I got into the cheering, I felt fine. The marathon is not only great to run, it is also great to watch! But it did remind me of how magical the New York marathon is for me, so I definitely will be back in the starting blocks there sooner or later.
So the new SLG running season is upon us, and will be kicked off with the "Race to deliver" 4 miler which will be held on Sunday November 19th. This has been a highly competitive race for the New York SLG'ers for three years now and this year will be no different. Gil has his crown to defend, and although he does not have to relinquish it until somebody else beats him in a marathon, it is obvious that he feels the pressure. Mark Hennenfent promised to stay on his tail during next week's 4 miler and the rivalry in shorter races between Gil and Mike (the flyer) will be renewed. Unfortunately, I cannot be there to run or certify the results but I will be watching from afar and I will be checking results feverishly.
In any case, looking back at the last few months, I think everybody agrees with me when I say that preparing for the Chicago marathon and the aftermath has been really great with a lot of SLG spirit; a lot of cameraderie, lots of joking, teasing, partying and all the other ingredients that makes all this silly running worhtwhile. And Thank God nobody is competitive in this group! I am looking forward to another great SLG year.
The coach (also known as listing but not quite dead queen).
P.S. Some people have been asking me about pictures or a photo album to remember the Chicago marathon by. Once I get Petra's father's pictures, I will put something together. It may be a couple of months but it is definitely on my to do list.