What words can I use to describe the Chicago Marathon? Amazing, fantastic, awe-inspiring, life-changing, long as hell, painful, too long, but passed in a blur. I started out ten seconds too fast on my first mile, and while I was able to keep up my pace through about mile 18-19, I crashed HARD. I kept pushing myself but between miles 20-23 I had to stop and walk through two (well-stocked I might add) aid stations just to make sure I was actually keeping down gatorade to get my blood sugar back up. It got so bad at one point around mile 23 that I was thinking about even quitting the race entirely, but I called my mother and had her talk me through the last 3 miles. Even though I couldn’t talk much since I was trying to concentrate on running, it was wonderful to hear a familiar voice – also, I was pretty sick of listening to podcasts at that point.

I was so overwhelmed by the sights and sounds and seeing Chicago from this new perspective that most of the race seemed to pass in a blur. I do remember passing over the bridge at the halfway point because my GPS got totally messed up and was telling me I did a 3 minute mile -_- I remember seeing my charity's cheer squad around mile 14. I remember the high winds off the lake before turning onto Stockton near the zoo. I remember the 800 meters to go sign and seeing a wall of police officers guarding the last km to the finish. I remember the further I got to the end and the further I got into my delirium the more faces started to look really warped and strange. Everyone was a part of the uncanny valley at that point. I remember turning onto Halsted near UIC and running through my old hood. I passed by my old apartment, my old office, my friends’ apartments – flashbacks of undergrad passing through my head. I remember being so out of it that I had no idea what direction I was running at some points. I remember a banana at mile 23 tasting like bile. I still don’t know if I threw up or not. Most importantly, I remember finishing, and being in pain, but still smiling.

Overall: I absolutely LOVED this race, and I would totally do it again once I shave off 20 minutes from my time and can get in as a time qualifier. This is an amazing course for a first marathon. Spectators lined the entire course, the aid stations were two full blocks long, they came up frequently, and they were very well stocked, the medal wasn't too flashy, which I liked, and it was a great representation of Chicago - I remember being a little kid and playing around on the Picasso sculpture, so it has a lot of nostalgic meaning for me. The expo was enormous, and while it was a little annoying that bib pickup and t-shirt pickup were on entirely opposite ends of the expo, the whole process was incredibly streamlined and efficient, which it should be for the amount of people running. I didn't use the gear check at the race, so I can't comment on that, but everything else I can comment on was absolutely 100% perfect. A successful first marathon - I can't wait to do it again!