Schaumburg Turkey Trot

This morning we ran the Schaumburg Turkey Trot an All Community Events race. I say we because I had not only my husband and my oldest daughter there but 10 other friends and family members there.  (See what happens when you throw an idea out on Facebook?)

There was a 1/2 Marathon option but we did the 5K. It was my daughter'so first race and she was really excited because she also got a medal! 

Packet Pick Up

Packet Pick-up was at the local Dick Pond running store. This location happens to be on my way home from work so it was really convenient.  I spent less than 5 minutes parking and getting our gear!  They gave these nice reusable tote bags! I was actually kind of excited about the tote bags because I use these way more than the drawstring bags you usually get.  It came with a nice water bottle an energy bar and the race fleece. The one size of the 1/2 zip fleece was sold out so my Husband got a hoodie.  The material is the same and it's very soft but very thin.

There were 2 different bibs.  Some of our friends got a very sarcastic bib that read- I'm running a 5K you're probably still sleeping. They were really cute.

Start Line

We got up at dark o'clock even though the race was pretty local. There were two different locations for the start and finish lines so we took 2 cars in case the shuttles weren't great. There ended up being plenty of shuttles and so if we do this again I wouldn't feel the need for 2 cars. The biggest concern was the weather as it was 32 degrees and we weren't sure how much waiting around for shuttles we'd have to do. Turns out we did no waiting so that was nice.

The race was in Busse Woods Forrest Preserve which has a paved path through out.  For the most part the path was clear of snow but there were quite a few ice patches especially at the beginning of the race.  I did do some skating at one point and from there I took it much slower. I was really worried about an injury derailing the rest of my training.

It was a really pretty day and once we got going I was just warm enough.  It was not a large race field, I would say less than 800 people so that made it pretty easy to maneuver. My high school provided volunteers for the aid station and post run fuel. It was nice to see teenagers volunteering in their community. 

One of the lakes partially frozen.

Finish Line 

There was a DJ at the finish line but if there was a photographer, I missed them.  The medal they were handing out was different than the one shown on the website but is was nice. It had the race name and a decent ribbon.  

There were a few different food stops. One had bananas, oatmeal cups, fruit snacks, cookies, and granola bars in addition to warm apple cider and bottled water.  I think I saw hot water for the oatmeal but we ended up taking ours home.  We took a quick picture and headed to the car and the shuttle.

My shuttle ride reinforced the idea that runners are a friendly group. The person I sat next to struck up a conversation and we chatted about traveling to races and next goals all the way to the cars.  It really is true that you are never alone at a race. As long as you are a runner you have friends.

My Time

My time was 48:29, 2 minutes slower than my previous PR.  And that's just fine. It was cold, icy and my knee was bugging me a bit.  My average pace was 15:23 which was still way better than it was this time last year when I wasn't running ;).  

Chicago Hot Chocolate 15K

Back in the summer on the heals of my 1st 1/2, I decided to run the Chicago Hot Chocolate 15K. I had a few reasons. 1) I needed a certified race 10K or longer to provide proof of time for the Princess 1/2 in order to get a preferred start corral. 2)It had a really cool theme 3) The race shirt was a race fleece full zip hoodie 4) New this year was a medal for the 15K finishers.

The race weekend coincided with my 8 year wedding anniversary and somehow I managed to get my husband to agree to run with me. We decided to make a weekend out of it and stay in downtown Chicago making the race morning really convenient. 

This race has had a lot of issues with their packet pickup in years past. A bunch of negative reviews of the race came up on Yelp when I started researching it.  Overall, the last year's reviews were much improved after moving the pick up and expo to McCormick place so I decided we could probably handle the packet pick-up.

I was concerned about the weather being too cold.  Chicago is windy (but that's not why they call it "The Windy City", you can thank a long dead politician for that moniker) and right up against the lakefront can be really cold.  I've never really run in temperatures below 40 so I stalked Pinterest for some guides to cold weather running.  This one from Spark people has the best info graphic.

We headed to Target to stock up on base layers and wicking gloves.  I scored these great Champion Brand smart phone friendly running gloves that had gripping dots on the back.  They were only $15.99 and worked out great.

Expo/Packet Pick-Up

There were 3 days of packet pick-up.  We went on the 3rd day about an hour after they opened. It was easy to get to McCormick Place and the signs and crowd were easy to follow.  The Bib pick-up was less than 5 minutes.  They scanned my phone that had the email of our registration and handed me the bibs and we were done.  The snag came when we went to get the "award winning" goody bags.

They were out of my size (XXL Womens) hoodies and were giving out Mens XL as a replacement.  I was not happy.  One of my reasons for running the race and forking over the $65 registration (plus parking and bus fare) was the hoodie.  There was a very nice woman who clearly worked for the expo that was trying to fix the growing problem.  The story we were told was that the additional boxes of that size had been misplaced and they were trying to locate them.  She was scrambling to do what she could and while I was standing there she managed to find 5 or 6 additional XXL Womans hoodies. 

The expo did seem to have a fairly generous size swap policy and did have the hoodies for everyone to try on in a separate section.  I'm glad that they allow that but I was dismayed that the one I ordered wasn't there to begin with.  In the end I was happy but I don't know if they ever found the missing boxes. The hoodie fit true to size and was very comfortable.

The Expo itself was on the smaller (well it seemed small to me but this was my 1st race expo so what do I know) side.  I was excited to see Bondi Bands there as well as Nuun. Sweaty Band had a table as did JVC which netted me a new pair of headphones. 

I didn't find as much chocolate related merchandise as I was hoping and the "I run for chocolate" gear was somewhat plain.  They had a really cool cowl neck long sleeve running shirt but only had XS left.  I didn't end up buying any chocolate race gear because in my head I was shouting Princess Expo, Princess Expo.

Race Day

We lucked out and the weather was 43 degrees and not too windy.  There was a point, though, that I felt the wind in my shoes around the 5K mark that I began to worry would become uncomfortable if prolonged but it ended up not being too bad.  RAM Racing did a nice job of organizing the corrals and I was glad to see spot checkers at the entrance making sure people were in the correct place.  We ended up being in corral P which was the last wave of the 15K. The MC was energetic and there was a camera capturing the race field which was fun.  Even though there were 45,000 people it didn't feel that way and that was really impressive. The 15 min pace requirement was upheld and part of the course was closed to those who fell off pace.

Yes, I ran in the race hoodie.

There were several women in the very same Sparkle Skirt pattern. I got several thumbs up and compliments on my cute skirt.

There were plenty of water and Gatorade volunteers and the local cheer teams were a fun touch.  The course had great mile markers and markers at the 5 and 10K points.  They also had chip time mats at those intervals which I really liked.  The race allowed you to sign up for Facebook and text updates on runners for free so I was able to get those posted to Facebook without doing it myself. The course split from the 5K route was clearly marked and I took a moment to snap a selfie that there was no turning back. 

My only course complaint was that some of the fun aid stations of Marshmallows and Tootsie Rolls were gone when the back of the pack got to them. But the fact that they have them on course is different and something to look forward to. I did manage to snag a Tootsie Roll off a table and a Chocolate  Marshmallow around mile 7.

Post Race

Hubby and I crossed the finish line together.  I think that was the part I enjoyed most.  Running next to him past Soldier Field, The Field Museum, and into Grant Park was fun.  And receiving the medal (which was way cooler in person than on the website) was a great way to end our accomplishment. 

The walk to the Finisher Mugs and Post Race party is about a block but it felt longer.  It was worth it though as the Hot Chocolate and Chocolate Fondue were pretty tasty!  There were marshmallow, mini pretzels, banana, wafer cookies, and Rice Krispy treats to dip.  The mug itself is plastic and  divided into compartments but could be re-used for snacks if you were interested.  The majority ended up in the trash and that was kind of sad but we took ours home.

Overall it was a great race.  I finished in 2:15 and surprised myself.  I didn't have much pain during the race but did struggle with a tight IT band the following few days.  We definitely want to do it next year and seriously debated signing up for the Las Vegas leg of the series.  That race is less than a week after the Tinker Bell 1/2 Marathon in Disneyland so I don't think I'll be able to run, even the 5K that quickly. (The medal looks really cool and instead of a hoodie, you get a running vest.)