The 2016 Quarryman Challenge was held on Saturday, May 7th
in Lemont, IL. Lemont is a nice little town
on the I&M canal with lots of hills.
In fact, the name Lemont, is literally from the French for the mountain.
There are definitely hills that feel like
mountains but there are no mountains.
The Quarryman Challenge (QC) offers both a 5K race and a 10
mile race. I signed up pretty early (12/15)
to do the 10 mile race as was apparent when I got my race bib and it was “9”,
just “9”. I love to sign up early for
races and get the early-bird pricing. In
the past, I have signed up for a few races and just skipped them when they
finally rolled around. I made a
commitment this year to run everything I’ve signed up for unless I’m
injured. So far, so good. The total cost for this race was $49. I’ve run 10K’s that were a lot more.
 |
| Elizabeth providing oranges before the race |
Packet pickup for QC was held at a couple nearby
locations. The closest to my home was
the Dick Pond store in Lisle, IL. My
running buddy, Muriel, kindly offered to pick up my packet and drop it off at
my home, Thursday, before the race. Talk
about easy packet pickup!!! The QC also
decided not to hand out bags with lots of junk in them; instead, just a bib, a
course map and a cotton commemorative race shirt. Kudos to the QC for not giving me a bunch of
junk which I then just turn around and throw out or recycle. I also really like getting a shirt that I can
wear around later and not another cheap running shirt. I know people differ on this one but I love
the cotton shirt!!!
Now that we are getting into May, races are starting earlier
and the QC 10 miler was scheduled for a 7:30 AM start to be followed five
minutes later by the 5K start. Lemont
is about 25 minutes from my house, so I planned to leave by 6:30 AM on race
day. As such, I set my alarm and woke up
at 5:00 AM in order to eat my standard granola bar, have a cup or two of
coffee, poop, make last minute changes to my running kit, etc. The weather for the day called for some early
rain, a high temperature in the low 50’s, then the wind was supposed to pick up
and the temperature to drop. Pretty much
a standard early spring day in Chicagoland. Originally, I planned to wear a tank top and
shorts but at the last minute, decided to wear a t-shirt and shorts
instead. Either would have been
fine.
 |
| Setting up the taps! |
One of the reasons I love non-city of Chicago races is the
easy parking and QC was no different. At
6:45 AM, I drove into downtown Lemont, pulled into the designated parking
garage, easily found a space and walked the two or three short blocks to the
race activities. No parking fees, no
fighting traffic, just an easy experience.
The pre-race activities were being held in a parking lot next to the
Village hall (where race day packet pickup was also being held) and there was a
nice vibe. Although there were a lot of
competitive runners there, I did not see any of the strutting and preening that
I often see at the city races. Instead,
people were chatting, eating orange slices provided by the QC, and just
chil
ling to the music.
 |
| Lots of port-a-potties!! |
The number one thing every racer is looking for on race
morning is a place to go…. number one (or number two.) The QC did not let us down, there was a more
than sufficient number of port-a-potties available and I went a couple of times
without having to wait in line. Even at
the after party, the port-a-potties were pretty clean. I also think that people who attend these
smaller races are a little more respectful of the things that are provided to
them.
Shortly before the race start, a young woman sang a nice
rendition of the Star Spangled Banner.
Honestly though, I really don’t understand why that song and saluting
the flag is part of sporting events. It
just seems weird to me.
At 7:30 AM we were off!
I was running with my friend who is a little slower than I am so I
anticipated a fairly easy but still hilly run.
The first quarter of a mile is a typical, flat Midwest run and the field
went out fast. The first turn, however,
showed the true nature of the race. We immediately
started to climb. The first climb in the
race is about 100’ in elevation over approximately a quarter mile. For Illinois, that’s a hill! I had been out to Lemont a few weeks ago to
check out the hills so I was not surprised but that didn’t make it any
easier. We walked a little of that first
hill. As soon as that hill was climbed,
the run turned mostly downhill for another mile and then up we went again. This time about 135’ in another quarter
mile. The race organizers know these
hills and “helpfully” labeled the biggest hills with “King of the Hill”
markers.
 |
| All smiles before the race |
The entire race is run through the residential streets of
Lemont. It was great not to be running
through boring industrial parks, or fighting traffic on busy roads. Instead, this run was a lot like running
through my neighborhood except with hills.
We ran by old Victorian houses, small brick ranch houses, lovely newer
contemporary homes and everything in-between.
This is not a race without a lot of crowd support but some people were
out having coffee and cheering us on. Between mile 2 and mile 6 the course was
mostly flat but with a slight uphill grade.
It was good to get a break after those initial uphill sections. At mile 6.0 we got a 100’ drop in about a
tenth of a mile. Woo baby! You have to be careful to keep it under
control on those steep downhills. This
was particularly important because we did have rain during the first half of
the race and some of the pavement was a little slippery. But the rain felt wonderful and no one minded
it at all.
After the steep downhill at mile 6, you guessed it, we
climbed again. This time a slow steady
gain over 2.5 miles. Not sure which is
harder, the steep climbs or the climb that just keeps on giving. The whole race was fun thanks to running it a
little easier with a friend and the great volunteers. The aid stations were staffed by high school
and middle school running groups and they were ENTHUSIASTIC!! Lots of motivation through the aid stations
and the course marshals were great too.
We were particularly motivated by the course marshal at mile 5.6; it was
Karla, from our running group!!! Aid
stations were provided about every two miles.
I carried my own water but, at least on a relatively cool day, the aid
stations were sufficient. On a hot day,
I would need more.
 |
| The course map |
After mile 8.5 it is all downhill including a very steep,
last downhill at mile 9.6 and then a flat run to the finish at the starting
line in the downtown area. Even though
we were at the back of the pack, there were still lots of people cheering us
in. As we crossed the finish line,
volunteers handed us two carnations for Mother’s Day. That was a nice touch. There are no individual medals for this
race. Some people run for the bling, not
me. I don’t need any more cheap junk to
clutter up my house. I was actually
pleased that there was no finisher’s medal.
 |
| A Post Race Beer! |
 |
| Muriel with her rock! |
The after party for this race is top notch! Two local breweries were pouring tappers and
racers and guests could have as many beers as they wanted. That, and as much pizza as we wanted
too. There were also a couple vendors
and the Chicago Area Runners Association (CARA) was there as well. The DJ was spinning good music and people
hung around and chatted it up until the awards.
The awards for this race are really special. Instead of a medal or trophy, each age group
winner is given a piece of quarry rock mined from the local area. My running buddy, Muriel, was first in her
age group and got a HUGE rock, of which, she should be very proud.
I LOVED this race. I
wish I did it before (although the hills might have intimidated me in the past)
and I plan to do it again. In fact, my
goal is to get a bib number even lower than “9” in 2017!
Do hills intimidate you?
If so, check out the Quarryman Challenge in 2017!
