Spectating Chicago
Yesterday was the second time Steven and I’ve spectated the Chicago Marathon. Our first time in 2009 wasn’t successful – we saw none of our runners! We were such spectating n00bs. We didn’t realize how crowded the course is, and expected to be able to find our people. NOPE. They have to find you! We learned so much at that race! Which is good, because I wanted yesterday to go off without a hitch. And it did!
I started planning for spectating very early – over a month ago! I was excited about it, and would think about it a lot during my runs!
First things first – get cool shirts to wear to support Gina and her charity! (Thank you to my coworker for making these for me – they would have looked horrible if I made them, but they were perfect!)
Check out Project Purple – they raise awareness and funds towards a cure for pancreatic cancer, and have a great support system for people who have it. Gina has lost a few family members to pancreatic cancer, and since she’s been running for them (since the NYC Marathon last November) I have unfortunately encountered many more people who have it.
Second thing, plan out the spectating spots where you can realistically get to (4, 11, 17 and 25), and let your runner know what side of the road you’ll be on (left)! Make sure that if you have to cross the course (eek!) it’s later in the race when it’s more spread out (ideally, don’t cross the course AT ALL).
Third thing, which was unplanned, practice your race day morning transportation. Ha, I thought I had a great idea to park at a friend’s house outside of the city and take public transportation in for the race. We did this to get to the expo on Friday and found out that the subway (“L”) takes f-o-r-e-v-e-r and a day. It took so long I didn’t think we’d actually make it to the first spectating spot on time (and be able to cross the route to get to our spot before all the runners were there). So, new plan – get a Spot Hero parking spot just outside of the course and take the L in from there. That worked out much better!
Fourth thing, get a balloon for your runner to find you on the course! I swear by this idea, and always give it as a tip to marathon spectators (at crowded races, anyway). The spectators can be rows deep in Chicago. If you have a balloon above you, it’s so much easier for your runner to find you in that crowd! We got a “G” for Gina.
But make sure you only fly your balloon when you expect your runner to be coming by – you don’t want to block people’s view around you! And that brings me to something I was very impressed by – how hard the marathon worked to make the race experience easy for spectators. We had a lot of help in knowing when Gina was going to come by because the Chicago Marathon app and tracking worked so well. I’ve doubted race apps before because so many people use them it seems to bog down the network and then nothing works – but it worked fantastically yesterday! I had planned to anticipate Gina’s arrival based on pace and time of day but we didn’t even have to do much of that – we just looked at the map on the app! Awesome!
The Chicago Marathon also handed out pocket spectating guides with a course map, train map and lots of info at the expo and around public transportation. It was SUPER handy! I had planned on bringing my own Chicago map, but mine doesn’t have the course on it, ha, so this was much better! There were also volunteers out at public transportation spots, ready to help people figure out where to go. Bravo, Chicago Marathon, for making it easier for us spectators!
And the last thing is… execute your plan!!! Gina and Steve stayed in Chicago the night before the race, and after Steve dropped Gina off at her corral, he met me, Steven and Luca (we drove down that morning) at an L stop so we could get to our first spectating spot together. Everything worked out fantastically (I was a bit worried we’d miss Gina at 17 because one train was taking forever, but it was all good, phew)! We saw Gina at all four spots, were able to give her water bottles with Tailwind twice, get some photos of her, and meet her at the runner reunite area after! And bonus, we got to see xaarlin at our last spectating spot!
Gina ran a five minute personal record and I am so proud of her! To me, it didn’t look like an ideal day for a marathon – full sun and no clouds? No thanks! The temperature was decent, but I was really hoping for an overcast day for her. That she ran so well in that is awesome! She was struggling with some hip pain but stayed strong for the entire race. And she said she liked the course and could see herself running it again! But also said she got bored of being in her head – it was her first marathon running without someone (it was her third marathon, her first was with me and her second was with her friend Bob). So maybe I’ll have to run it with her next time?!
Ha, people were shocked I was NOT running Chicago with Gina. They asked if something was wrong. If I would be upset at the race, that I wasn’t running. If I was burnt out on racing. No, no, no. Nothing was wrong, I wasn’t upset (I LOVED spectating) and I am not burnt out. None of those things! After running Chicago in 2010, I said I don’t want to run it again until I am an experienced marathoner and get better at handling any heat the day may bring (it was in the high 80s and sunny when I ran it). I’ve stood by that statement. It’s a great race, but not one I’ve thought about signing up for (and now, entering the lottery for) since I first ran it. I am not there, as a runner. I am in a spot where I like to train for marathons that won’t sell out, and register more “last minute” when I can gauge (even though you never know) how the weather will be, and what shape I will be in.
Spectating a marathon IS amazingly inspiring though! It doesn’t make me want to run one (come on, the people are in so much pain and you can tell!!!) but it does make me want to get healthier again!
And one random last thing – this guy dressed up as Santa and handed out presents to kids he saw spectating! How kind is that? Luca was excited about it!
Themocracy
Great spectating tips – that balloon thing is one I’ll do if Jeff ever runs Austin again…combine me being short plus the crowds and he has a heck of a time seeing me, LOL. So glad Gina had such a great race, and what a great cause she’s raising money for.
It really works!!! Then he just has to wave to you when he first sees the balloon so you see him coming 🙂
The app this year was AMAZING! I was able to see so many people because of it. So happy Gina had a strong race and got a PR. Did she mention if it was windy on the last stretch on Michigan?
She didn’t! I asked her and she said it wasn’t windy. When we were spectating, it felt windy at our first spot (mile 4)!
Great tips! I hadn’t thought about the balloon one but that makes sense. I’m going to be spectating at the Marine Corps Marathon in a couple weeks and I’m excited about it 🙂
Oh fun!!! I bet you know a lot of people running it!
Congrats to Gina!! What a great run 🙂
Your G is brilliant…
I think of you as a very experienced runner, but i get it. I like to weather stalk and sign up late. I had to sign up for my race because it was getting so $$ I hate super expensive races…but the convenience of being close to home is sometimes worth a few more dollars.
Aww, thanks 🙂 I just know what weather I will perform decently in, and the longer I can wait to sign up, the better! But a lot of times it’s not possible because things sell out!
I am glad you had a great experience spectating yesterday. And congrats to Gina on her PR!!! The balloon idea is awesome and comes in handy when there are so many spectators.
Soooooo happy for Gina! She did amazing 🙂 It was so nice seeing you guys yesterday 🙂 the app definitely made it easier to track people- as long as they stayed on the pace that was being calculated in the app. If they slowed down it would show them passing us before they actually did which made us a little crazy at times. It was such a fun day!
It was so nice to see you too! 🙂 How much longer did you stay out there? We got to Runner Reunite just a few minutes before Gina, so our timing worked out well!
I bet it would be difficult to track A LOT of people with that app and try to see them in multiple spots – but that is hard with or without an app!
Congratulations Gina!!! Wow, a 5 minute PR!!!
And you guys did a great job spectating!
This hasn’t been a “race heavy” year for me, and I have to say that spectating different events definitely has given me a HUGE appreciation for the people who come out and cheer me on AND it’s also a lot of fun – so inspirational (and occasionally heart-breaking).
That’s great that Gina had such a fantastic day there.
Yes! Spectating is HARD work!!! Gina thanked us so much and kept saying how easy we made it for her to find us. I felt good that she appreciated it and didn’t make it more difficult for her (I don’t know about you, but not seeing a spectator when I expected to has REALLY messed with me before!).
And you didn’t spectate in 2010 because Katie and I spectated you! That was fun.
Yes! I had forgotten about that until I reread my post! It was so great to see you guys out there – spectators REALLY make a difference!
I was watching run,selfie, repeat’s video of the race and I’m pretty sure I saw you guys so the giant G balloon really does work!!
Ha, that’s fun!!!
You really have spectating down to a science! (I looked at your 2009 post…That was so sweet of you to make me a sign and try to see me!
It’s interesting that race organizers have started putting so much effort into the spectator experience in addition to the runner experience. I guess that’s a bit part of it, especially with race numbers being so much bigger than they used to be.
Thanks!!! 🙂 You’d hope, after our big failure the first time, muah ha ha.
Yeah, and I think it’s great they are. I had actually ordered a Chicago map to use (oops, maybe I mentioned that) and was pleasantly surprised when they gave me one, for free, at the expo!
I’m glad you had such a successful spectating experience! Having something unique so your runner can find you is SO key. My parents have always made a sign for me out of a picture rather than posterboard, so it’s WAY easier to pick out in the crowd (that, and the fact that the picture has either been my dog or penguins, and those aren’t all that common in signage along the course haha). I’m so glad the app worked so well this year! I’ve never had my parents use it in the past, but now I’ll feel comfortable having them use it in the future! (They didn’t come to Chicago this year since they spectated me at Fox Valley instead). Last year at Chicago and this year at Fox Valley I used the Road ID app (which only works if the runner carries his/her phone, of course), and that’s apparently worked REALLY well for my spectators, too. Congrats to Gina on a great race! (Oh, and as for the weather: can you believe that I have never once, in FIVE marathons, had a race that wasn’t in full sun?? True story. There has never even been one cloud in the sky while I’ve run a marathon. It’s nice to not have to worry about the rain, but it’d be even nicer to have less solar radiation to deal with!)
I need to do a posterboard sign next time! Something very funny… or cute, like an otter 🙂
Ahh, I have used Glympse, and I wonder if that works like the Road ID app – shows exactly where you are on a map? I have always trusted that over race apps, but after this and how well the Dallas 2015 app worked, maybe I can rely on them.
I am not surprised you’ve had all sunny marathons. All the years I’ve spectated FVM have been FULL ON SUN! Blah. Hope your next one is overcast!
Yep, that’s what Road ID does as well! My parents love it, and I actually really loved it during Chicago in particular, because it told me how far I ran! My watch is useless after the first .25 miles because of Wacker Drive and downtown, so it was nice to know how far I actually ran (26.9 miles, compared to the 27.5 my watch said).