So I am finally back from Chicago where I finished my first ever Urbanathlon. I beat my personal goal of an 8:30 mile with an 8:22 and I am super stoked about the result. The best part was that I felt great at the end of the race and I know I could have run it even faster! The obstacles were great motivators. I could feel as I closed in on them the urge to run faster and pound through them. As I tackled an obstacle a surge of endorphins rushed in and catapulted me onto the next one. I can see these types of races becoming significantly more popular in the future.

Dan and I woke up at 6am to start getting ready for the race. It was cloudy and cool out, but the weather forecast promised no rain and temps in the high forties. Perfect running weather for me. As we jogged the mile and a half down to the starting line the clouds darkened up and half pea sized hail started falling from the sky. This was not going to be a fun race I thought. At least the hail doesn’t soak your clothes, it just bounces off and stays on the ground. We checked our bags and walked around the tent city. Free beer, a climbing wall and free swag awaited us post finish.  By the time the race started the clouds had parted and bits of sun were poking through. The perfect race weather was here! Thank goodness since I decided to take my chances and run in just shorts and a t-shirt.

Dan and I started together and he was kind to keep me company for the first mile and then off he went while I trotted at my own pace. I was petrified of the 500+ stairs near the end of the race and how much they would exhaust me. Would I be able to make it over the final wall?

As far as the obstacles were concerned, the tires were pretty easy and just required focusing on lifting your knees and touching down in the front section of the tire. There were three sets of them. About ten rows of small tires followed by a waist high monster tire. The final monster tire was really big and was fun to jump over. I wish there were more of them and that they were stacked into small pyramids.

As a rock climber I was correct in guessing that the monkey bars would be no problem. You do have to keep your momentum going with your legs because the bars are further apart and thicker than I was expecting. Post race we talked with an athletic looking women who said she had trouble grasping the bars because of their diameter. Dan crossed them while wearing a polyester type glove hoping it would help his grip what with the wet weather we were having. Dan’s word was that the gloves were a big hindrance. It seems that a pair of golf or batting gloves are probably the best way to go. Our friend Dan said he took them two at a time orangutan style even though you were supposed to touch all of them according to the rules. I think that skipping should be allowed because it is certainly harder.

By far my favorite obstacle was the marine hurdles. While approaching the hurdles and passing a large group of people who had just finished them somebody called out “Are the hurdles easy!” and with no hesitation a single chorus of “NO!” came back. Marine hurdles are probably five feet off the ground and on the beach. You have to launch yourself up and into a stiff arm position and then hurl a leg over. There were four of them and I wish that there had been more.

The stadium was the big obstacle I had saved all my energy for and unfortunately it was a let down. The aisles were too narrow and by the time I got there a big back up had started. They weren’t challenging at all since everyone just had to march slowly up single file. I actually felt rested after the first lap. I ended up running to an empty section of the stadium and doing the laps by myself, race be damned if I was disqualified, but I wasn’t wasting any more time standing around. Indeed the first full leg I ran up had me grasping the railing with two hands and wishing I had a third hand to lift up my dead legs and place them on the next step. Now that is the fun I’m talking about!

A little bit after leaving the stadium I was surprised to find myself caught up with Dan. My secret to catching up? Well I passed the nine mile marker and thought to myself – only three miles left? Time to pour it on! Too bad the mile marker was for the other side of the course. I turned it on at about seven miles instead of nine. Fortunately it was a great race day for me and I had the energy to plow through, especially with the stairs being so much easier than expected. Dan and I ran side by side up to the last sets of obstacles.

The taxi cab hurdle was my next obstacle and I had these dreams of flying over it just like Dan did in his last Urbanathlon. So badass! Unfortunately there was a backup of people just crawling over on their hands and knees. I don’t even remember how I got over, but I know it wasn’t fast, graceful or cool. Just practical for the situation.

I lost Dan in the crowd at that point and found a giant wall with a bunch of people struggling to get over. There were no gaps for me to jump into! Eventually a spot opened up and instead of using the rope I just jumped up, grabbed the backside of the wall and used good old rock climbing strength to launch myself over. I figured by this time Dan had already finished, but I guess he got strung up in the mess too. We finished seconds apart and it was great to have him right next to me to bask in a successful race.

I would love to do this race again. The course is gorgeous. Millenium Park is wonderfully cared for with beautiful sculptures and fountains. As you run in the early morning light you are treated to sailboats bobbing in the harbor and waves crashing against the jetties, throwing spray high into the air. The glass and steel skyscrapers dominate the landscape, reflecting the sunlight and providing the namesake, Urbanathlon.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, October 21st, 2009 at 3:28 pm and is filed under Fun Stuff. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.