2023 Chicago Marathon

The best fall weekend in the Windy City! Alex and I flew into town Thursday night to visit Alex’s family and for the Chicago Marathon over Columbus Day Weekend.

He ran, and I spectated.

Alex is modest and humble and did not think he ran that fast, but it was his first marathon and he placed in the top 5,000 people… that’s pretty incredible. He finished his first marathon in 3 hours and 5 minutes. Talk about FAST! I’m so proud of him. 

We also got to cheer on other friends from college. One Demon Deacon is even going to the Olympic trials! 

Absolutely incredible.

I’ll be lucky if the next time I run will be at the Turkey Trot… and I will be pulling up the rear! 

It was a great weekend with great memories. Highly recommend spectating (or running- I can’t give my recommendation as I have never run one) a marathon. The energy is amazing!

 

Friday:

We visited the marathon expo. The boys picked up their race bibs, shirts and swag. There were thousands of people. It was completely overwhelming.

Saturday:

We explored Chicago. We walked around South Loop and saw the Bean. We grabbed lunch and ate on Lake Michigan. We had pre-race drinks on the LondonHouse rooftop. We walked up Michigan Avenue and visited the Nike store which had been transformed into marathon central. We carb loaded (even me because spectating takes a lot of energy) at Bar Siena- West Loop. Really delicious pasta and don’t forget the donuts for dessert.

 

Sunday:

We were up bright and early for the race! We spectated from the five-mile marker which then enabled us to walk a couple of blocks and cheer on the runners from the eleventh-mile marker. We got to see the wheel chair division, the elite runners (the man that came in first place actually broke a world record) and saw all our friends from both vantage points. It was so incredibly fun. We met up with everyone afterwards at Sully’s House for celebratory brews. Afterwards, our crew headed to the South Side for some tacos. 

 

Monday:

We flew home Monday night. Half of our flight consisted of runners. We knew this because either they were wearing their medals and t-shirts or because of how hard it was for them to walk or stand boarding and deplaning. 

 

I give the marathoners huge kudos for their hard work. Running is such a hard sport and finishing a marathon is no easy feat. Round of applause runners!