Saturday was a perfect day for a run and Cantigny provided the perfect setting. The Cantigny 5K run/walk supporting the Midwest Homeless Veteran’s Shelter started at 9 AM. Since Cantigny is about 16 miles from home, I had not taken advantage of the pre-run packet pick-up. I got up around 6 and did my normal pre-run routine of coffee, water and a granola bar and left the house about 7 AM. Peter was sound asleep when I left, a couple of the cats had even gone back in to join him. As I drove to Cantigny, the temperature dropped steadily until it plateaued at 37 degrees. An excellent running temperature!
I went into the Visitor’s Center to pick up my running packet and the people manning the packet pickup were perky and friendly. Nice way to start the morning. The Visitor’s Center was toasty warm and had plenty of room and restrooms to accommodate all of us waiting for the start of the run. The race shirts were super nice. Because Cantigny runs the event, there weren’t all the sponsors like there are at most races. So no Goodie bag full of junk but a great long sleeve technical shirt with the race logo on front and back and no sponsors! This year’s color is a dark blue and the shirt is very nice. Way to go Cantigny! I spent a little time waiting in the car as well. I’ve finally figured this out – bring a blanket and a jacket and just snuggle in. About 20 minutes before race start, I got out of the car and slow skipped about half a mile to warm up. I like skipping. It warms me up quickly and I get to pretend I’m a little kid again.
Cantigny is a great spot to hold a run. It was the estate of Robert McCormick, the man who started the Chicago Tribune. It has a huge parking lot, beautiful grounds, a military museum and a nice golf course. The race route was all on black top and traversed the grounds and the golf course. There were no huge hills but nice undulating ground. The race was capped at 900 participants and that is about max for the facility. The cart paths on the golf course are fairly narrow and it is a little difficult to pass slower runners. The race started with a bang. Literally. Instead of a starting gun, they used a canon to start the race. I started off in the back of the running pack ahead of the strollers and walkers. I really don’t mind the walkers but the dual child strollers are a royal pain in the ass. They are just too big for most runs and create trouble even when the runner behind the stroller is considerate and the course wide. I’m not anti-children but I really don’t understand what place they have in a run. If you want to be out on the course, walk with the walkers. The strollers are just too dangerous.
While I’m griping, here’s my gripe about stupid people. I’m a run/walker. I get it. I run about 9 minutes and then walk one minute. Here’s the thing, when I’m going to transition to walking, I take a quick look over my shoulder to make sure there is no one behind me. Then I quickly mover to the right and get off the course (if possible) and then walk as far to the right as possible. The idea being to stay out of the other runners’ way. What is it with some people? Are they stupid or insensitive or what? There was one woman who each time she stopped she just stopped dead where she was and then went wandering down the middle of the course with her headset plugged into her ears. Runners were dodging all over the place to get around her. It wasn’t pretty. I really wonder how that woman drives. Totally clueless.
Final results for me. Middle of the packer! I finished 16th out of 41 in my age group with a pace of 11:38 per mile and 478 out of 900 (but of course that includes the walkers too). I’m just happy to be back out there.
