41 - Fox Valley Marathon, St. Charles, Illinois

Expo location in St. Charles.

Mark and I landed at Chicago O'Hare airport on Friday afternoon.  We rented a car and drove to St. Charles to pick-up my race number; the expo was small, but everyone was friendly. We had a late lunch at Isacco, then drove into downtown Chicago to our hotel — Westin Chicago River North. We hit tons of traffic getting into Chicago late Friday afternoon and were pretty exhausted from traveling all day so we had dinner at the hotel.

On Saturday morning, our first stop was the Apple store.  Mark's cell phone had crashed that morning when he tried to download the iOS7 upgrade.  He made an appointment with the Apple Genius Bar to come back later in the day.  An Apple employee recommended a place close by for breakfast called the West Egg Cafe. It was a delicious recommendation. During breakfast, we talked with a local couple about what we should do for the day. They suggested the Architecture River Tour, which sounded interesting, so we decided to do that.  We walked over to Gateway Park at the Navy Pier to embark upon the hour tour.  The tour was chock-full of great information, and the guide was highly entertaining.

After the cruise, we walked over to Millennium Park and explored there for a while, then headed back to the hotel.  Mark was staying in downtown Chicago for a meeting the next day.  I drove back to St. Charles to spent the night there in preparation for the marathon the following morning.

Instead of a massive generic pasta dinner on Saturday night, the marathon race committee had arranged something called "Dine and Dash: pre-race dinner parties" at some local restaurants.  Two local people hosted runners for dinner at a restaurant.  I choose the 7 PM seating at Villa Verone.  Katie and Mike were the hosts and their daughter Gina was in town to help out.  Two other people joined us —Christine and Tricia —both from the Chicago area.  Our "party" was small compared to the other "parties."  Most runners had opted for earlier seatings. On my way back to my hotel (Holiday Inn Express), I stopped at Forever Yogurt for some additional pre-marathon nourishment.

Arcedium Coffeehouse

On Sunday morning, the time change g-ds were in my favor.  The drive to the starting / finishing area was quick and easy:  I really enjoy these smaller marathons where hassles are kept to a minimum.  I had about 45 minutes to kill before the start at 7 AM so I walked around.  Much to my delight, there was an open coffee shop (Arcedium Coffeehouse) at the starting line!

It was a little chilly that morning, so I relaxed with a cup of "Jump Start" in the coffee house until 5 minutes before the start. Honestly, I don't think there could have been any better planning for the starting line!

Sunrise.

Moon set. 

It was a beautiful morning to be running the Fox Valley Marathon in St. Charles, both the sun rise and moon were in view and cool temperatures prevailed.  I decided to start out with the five-hour pace group, and it took about 25 minutes for us to get to the start.

Katie (maroonish tank top) and her friends behind (pink tank top and white T-shirt).

I ran the first few miles alone, then I came upon Katie (host from the night before) and two of her friends who were running the 20-miler.  In addition to the marathon (26.2 miles), there was a half-marathon (13.1 miles) and a 20-mile run.  Many people were doing the 20 mile run as a long training run for the Chicago Marathon scheduled for October 13.  The 20-mile run split from the marathon, and then it was Katie and me, alone chatting about life.  A porta-potty beckoned Katie, so we parted ways.

Then I came upon Christine, one of the women from Chicago that I had dinner with the night before. We ran together and chatted for a while until she was beckoned by a porta-potty.  Finally I met up with Tricia, the other "Chicago" woman from the night before.  She and I ran to the finish together. Her parents were there to cheer her in, which always makes the finish a bit more fun!

A pleasant surprise was one of the post race snacks...local steak!  They were handing out small pieces on toothpicks.  I lingered by that area for a long time.  After you left the finishing area, there was another tent with physical therapists giving free massages...yet another bonus! I didn't get a massage but had the physical therapist stretch me out.

A shower was desperately needed; I drove back to the hotel, showered and then drove back to the finishing area to meet Tricia, her parents, and Christine at a local place called The Office for a celebration lunch.  Runners were given drink tickets for a free beer at The Office, and we indulged.

Back at the hotel, I stretched and relaxed.  Next door to the hotel was Gino's East, where I had an amazing Chicago deep dish pizza for my 41st state marathon celebration dinner.  The next morning, I flew back to NYC.

There were a lot of nice little perks to this marathon (including spending a full day exploring downtown Chicago with Mark).  The Dine and Dash pre-race dinner party was an excellent idea — a great way to meet new friends!