It’s a time to get together with friends who happen to be just as nutty as yourself and who perhaps think “Why not?! I’m up for a challenge, but most importantly some fun!”

And, that is the common theme when joining the many other runners at the Polar Dash Chicago 5K/10K/14 Miler.

It’s a time for fun, camaraderie, and the feeling of accomplishment.

Do not look at this as an opportunity for a PR.

Winters in Chicago can be brutal. Mother Nature can, at times, be a very unforgiving wench. A mere week before the race, we saw wind chills at -45F and snow (lots & lots of snow!!). Fortunately, during the Polar Dash Chicago, we were rewarded with temps of 36F at the start of the race. Downright balmy, but not without challenges.

The course itself was sidewalks and the Lakefront bike path.

With the warm up of temps during the preceding days and cool down at night, the course was icy in patches as well puddles as deep as Lake Michigan or so it seemed. Was this unexpected? No. Again, you must bear in mind that you are here for the fun and come with the expectation that you will encounter this.

Team Ortho put on a fun race. This was my 3rd race with this organization. The swag was great! Love the jacket, but the penguin hat, while very cute, fit extremely snug. Even my 6 year old said “Mommy, it’s kind of tight!” However, I jammed that penguin on my head to keep in spirit with the fun of the day.

The course was similar to previous races and the turnaround for us 10K’ers was well directed.

Race volunteers were out cheering on the runners and provided us all with a little extra motivation to get our rear in gear to make it to the finish line. While all 3 races finished at the same point and could potentially pose some frustration given the different levels of runners, no issues to report. Remember…it’s all about the fun!

For some of us, especially myself (I am not embarrassed to admit), getting the medal at the finish line is a great motivator. A little bling is always great!

I would be remiss if I did not give a Huge Shout-out to all the volunteers who took their personal time to help us out!! Any race I run, I am always very thankful.

2014 race season is off to a great start! What better way to begin the New Year than with my friends doing something good for us and laughing about it the entire time.

To see my complete blog post, just click here: http://diannaseda.wordpress.com/2014/01/14/youre-doing-what-chicago-race-in-january-are-you-completely-whack-a-doodle/

Link to this review