The 2022 Chicago Marathon

I was more excited about this marathon than I have been for any other in a while.  I think because the stars seem to be aligned for a good race:  I lucked out and managed to get a hotel right near the start/finish, so no onerous trekking before and after the race.  The course was very flat and neatly divided into three manageable sections: north, west, and south.  And the weather was perfect!  In the final pre-race email from the Chicago Marathon they said, "According to the advance local weather forecast, the weather on race day is projected to be partly to mostly sunny, with low temperatures in the low-40s (degrees F) and high temperatures in the low-60s (degrees F).  Based on this forecast, the Event Alert Status level is Green, which suggests ideal conditions for marathon running."

And it was!

Course Map

I could see the finish area from my hotel room!

At the Expo

Anyone could write down a reason for running and add it to the wall.

View of the city

The Bean!

The Riverwalk

Pre-race gear shot

The Chicago Marathon is the second only to New York as the largest marathon in the US.  40,000 people participated, but it didn’t ever seem like that many.  Most of the course was on relatively narrow, tree-lined streets, so it didn’t even feel like a big city, let alone a big race.  The only way the Chicago Marathon felt big was the number of spectators--they lined every single step of the course, and they were loud!   There were lots of signs, some with the usual chestnuts:

·       “You’re running better than the government!”  (Alternate: “…the metro”)

·       Pain is temporary, pride is forever.

·       Worst parade ever!

·       Your feet hurt ‘cause you’re kicking butt!

·       On a scale of 1-10 you’re a 26.2!

But I saw a few creative signs that were new to me:

"I'll get you into Boston" (with a photo of Lori Loughlin)

·       “Due to inflation you’ll run 27 miles”

·       Several Wordle-themed signs eg “RACES, ROADS, WANTS, MEDAL”

·       A couple of Lord of the Rings-themed ones:  “Fly you fools!” and “A day may come when you cannot run, but it is not this day.”

Some of our NF Endurance Team!

In Chinatown

Photo by our NF Endurance Team leader, Lydia, who was waiting for us at mile 13!

Todd was able to follow me from afar on the Chicago Marathon app

He took several screen shots as I approached the finish line :)

I felt strong until the last few miles, but I finished with my best marathon time since 2017!  And I was 605th out of 1662 women in my age group :)

At the finish line a guy proposed to a girl right in front of me.  He had the ring with him and everything.  Apparently she said yes because they kissed afterwards.  (Risky!)

Nicholas Kristoff and family were there, too!

One more special treat this Chicago weekend—the day after the marathon I got to have breakfast with college friend, Lolan, and his family! So wonderful to reconnect with old friends.

With Lolan's nephew, Samuel

And with Lolan's mom!

I brought Samuel a Chicago Marathon shirt <3

Next: the Philadelphia Half in November! I'm giving myself a couple weeks break first, but I'm still motivated to keep running to #endNF <3 THANK YOU to all who have donated to our campaign so far this year!!

My Dumb Runner calendar has a perfect message for October

The medal rack Todd made for me several years ago.  It's getting pretty full.

Labor Day Weekend recap

Running Update:

2022 NHRR Half Marathon: 2:06:57

I hope you all had a relaxing Labor Day!  I started the day with a run through the city of New Haven with 4500 other people :) 

The New Haven Road Race is the home of the USATF 20K National Championship, so there were dozens of elites running along with us, too.  (Alec was more impressed that Conner Mantz was there than the fact that his mother ran a half marathon!) 

At the start

Here come the elites!

Mantz in the lead from the start

Then comes me!

At the finish

Enjoying lots of post-race water

The medal

I just love the New Haven Road Race—the course, the organizers, the volunteers, and the city itself.  I swear New Haven has the best spectators, both in number and level of energy.  Whole families and even whole neighborhoods come out in the early morning—on a holiday, no less!—to give us encouragement and snacks and to spray us with cool water.  I even heard a woman cheering for a runner who had to stop and walk—she called out, “Good job!  Way to listen to your body!”  The mayor, Justin Elicker, has himself run in the NHRR for the past 12 years.  School groups volunteer; various bands, DJs, and bagpipes play.  It’s like a city-wide block party.

Strong work, Mr Mayor!

Next up, the Chicago Marathon October 9th!  As always, you can sponsor us by donating to the Children's Tumor Foundation:

www.KRath4Jane.com

Helen Update:

Helen moved back in to Mount Holyoke and started her third year of college this weekend!  It's going to be a good year.

Such a beautiful campus

The view from Helen's room

Roomies

Back to School, Back to Racing

Running Update:

Month of August 2022 Running Total:  143.6 miles  (24:26:47)

That’s the most I’ve ever run in a month!  We’ll see if that translates to better endurance in my upcoming races :)  Next week starts the fall race season—I’m running the New Haven Road Race Half Marathon on Labor Day.  Labor Day is usually still hot in humid here in CT, but right now the forecast for race day is slightly cooler weather.

With the start of fall races comes the start again of fundraising for the Children’s Tumor Foundation!  You can always donate here:

www.KRath4Jane.com

 

Jane and Family Update:

Two out of our three kids are back to school this week.

We dropped Alec off at Lafayette for his first year at college!  He seems to be doing well—he hasn’t been texting us spontaneously, which I guess is a good thing :)  We did a video call with him a few days after he got to school and he was very chatty.

Alec's dorm

Unpacking

Alec and his new roommate!

Jane has had three days as a high school sophomore and so far and seems happy with her classes and teachers.

Standard First Day of School family photo.
Despite her expression here, Jane was excited to start school again.
(Helen was a good sport and got up early with us.)

Helen is still home!  She goes back to Mount Holyoke this weekend.  It’s nice to have her home a little while longer <3

NF Update:

The film A Different Man is due to be released sometime next year.  Sebastian Stan (of Winter Soldier fame) stars as a man with NEUROFIBROMATOSIS alongside Adam Pearson, an actor who has NF in real life.

What I notice is different in this film than from other films, and what makes me excited for its release, is that it stars a person who actually has the condition being portrayed.  No question, I’ll be anxious to learn more about how NF is depicted—it’s a thriller, so there’s a risk that they will equate “disfigured” with “bad guy”. (I’ve written about this before.)  But I’m hopeful that, with such a big star playing a person with neurofibromatosis, there’ll be lots of side stories about “What is NF?”  It would be great if Stan himself advocates for the NF community—I’ll be disappointed if he wants the accolades of portraying a person with neurofibromatosis without learning how it really feels to have NF.

On a crazier note, it turns out that some people with neurofibromas on their skin are being harassed, in person and on social media, because others think the bumps are Monkeypox. Ugh. The Children’s Tumor Foundation had to release a statement to fight the misinformation:  www.ctf.org/news/not-all-bumps-are-the-same-nf-is-not-monkeypox

I’m so thankful to have an organization like CTF watching out for the NF community.

(I know I say this a lot, but you can donate to CTF here:  KRath4Jane.com!)