Diane and I volunteered with Team in Training, so we got to help administer the race by directing runners where to go, and also forming a human chain to keep runners corralled.
Because all of us were going to run or volunteer early in the race, Diane used one of her free nights at Hilton to get us a sweet hotel downtown. It was so easy to roll out of bed - well, easier than it would have been otherwise. We ate some of my muffins and headed to the volunteer area.
We had to get there super early, 6 a.m., so we hung out in the volunteer tent eating bananas and sipping water. We had to get on our volunteer t-shirts and stuff, and official photographers kept coming over to get pictures because of my deely-boppers. So, we may be in a lot of the official photos.
At about 6:45, we went out to the race start area, which was just beginning to get light, but no one was there besides other volunteers.
The racers started arriving in earnest at about 8 a.m. Until then, we just sang Girl Scout camp songs (seriously), warmed up in a grade school bus, and directed volunteers where to go. We were right inbetween the C and D corrals, so our job was to keep the D people and "open racers" from getting into the A, B, and C corrals.
Racers were ready for the weather in their own way; some were over-dressed, and some were under-dressed because they knew that they would be warm during the race. Lots of people were dressed in green; we saw some leprechauns, a leprechaun pimp, some Jolly Green Giants, and lots of others. Anticipating rain, lots of people wore trash bags or ponchos, but luckily the rain had stopped before 8:30.
The race kicked off at 9 a.m., and my friends and Dave (with the open racers with no corral) went at about 9:25. It took forever to get the racers out of the start line - so long, in fact, that the elite racers were already done before the last racers started. I guess that's what happens when 30,000+ people line up to run some closed-down streets in downtown Chicago.
Our volunteering duties having ended, we waited for Dave, Kelly, and Rob at the end of the race. They had gotten their free beers and were feeling good. (Note the crocheted shamrocks by yours truly - Rob's is easiest to see.)
They thought that they had run the race in good time, and they stayed together throughout the race, so I think that helped them to support each other. Official results should come out in the next few days. Dave is excited for more races throughout the year, but this was everyone's first of 2010. Top o' the mornin' to our runners, and congratulations!!
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