CARA's Newton Ready to Run 20 Miler Marathon

16 Sept 2012

1st time I ran this 20 Miler Marathon race to keep my Chicago Marathon Training statistics up to date. The weather was perfect about 60F for such long run. The start line was close to my house (Wilson beach) and the finish line was art Jackson Park. The marathon started on time (6:30am) with great enthusiasm. The pace group starting from 7 onward with a gap of 30 seconds each. I had joined the 8:30 group and the run started at 6:40am. No entertainment on the way since it was kind of preperation race for all participants. Every 2 mile the aird station along with water/gatorade made the race more challenging. I completed the marathon in 187 minutes, which is 10 minutes slower than expectation. It was ok for me since I took this as practice run. I wasn't exausted after the finish thats what I wanted to acheive this time. Though I felt low in energy at mile 16. I followed the every 5 mile strategy with 1 break for pee and other 2 for stretching (7 Min).

The Beer/breakfast helped a lot after race. I was transported back to Wilson by Shuttle service. It was my regular practice route and with perfect weather made the race bit easy for me. The race was part of my Chicago Marathon training. And they dont give Medal for this race but the T-Shirt for the finishers. One funny announcement made by one of the co-ordinator which made everyone laugh and that is, "One Father(Spectator) has been lost/missing" and his 3 yr old kid reported this at the announcement booth.

CARA Lakefront 10 Miler Marathon

28 Apr 2012

	Timing 1 hr 20 minutes 1st time I ran the CARA Lakefront 10 Miler race to keep my Chicago Marathon Training statistics boosting. The race started at 8am. I like the route very much. Only issue was the temp was down to 9C and on top it was raining with cold wind impacting the overall resistance along the lakeshore front. On the way at 4 mile the elevation on the hill for 5 minutes made the race more interesting. Inspite of bad neck cramp, I finshed the race 5 minutes (80 minutes) slower than expected timing. 1st time tried Beer after race. Easy way to release the mental pain. I enjoyed this run mainly due to route. It was 1st step for Chicago Marathon training.
More Details:		Total finishers: 1423 Male 705, Female 717 Registered participants - 2000. Stood 3rd among Indians as per name count. Written By: Rajan Rikame