paul emery
Chicago Marathon - Oct 10th 2004
Fundraising for Cancer Research UK
Story
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Chicago Marathon October 10th 2004
I found myself on a plane making my way to my 3rd marathon in 3 years, I wasn't quite sure why I had started running or indeed why I was carrying on, but by the end of the weekend I had to run 26.2 miles. I put my name down for the Chicago marathon soon after my 2nd New York marathon and chose Cancer Research UK to run for.
As a veteran marathon runner I knew exactly what training was required to see me through, 3 runs a week for about 3 months. The distance would build up and about 2 weeks before, a run of about 20 miles and then shorter runs to keep ticking over. I plotted a training plan in Excel, maybe printed it off once and this was the last I saw of it. I managed to do a few sporadic runs around Stockport of about 5 miles each, ran home from work once (8.3 miles) and did my longest run 2 weeks before the marathon of 9.2 miles. I had covered a total of 53 miles in training which was slightly over 2 marathons but over a period of 2 months! I'd started playing rugby again, avoided injury, and had played a couple of 5-a-side games so I didn't feel too unfit but it wasn't ideal.
The flight from Heathrow was good as all the marathon runners were seated together and we got to know each other over a few drinks. Most of the runners were on soft drinks, except the row I was on which had developed a special relationship with the cabin crew and was taking advantage of the free bar. I was sat next to a girl called Helen who was attempting her 1st marathon, my lack of training gave her comfort.
We'd flown out of London at 9:30am we landed in Chicago just before noon and had the rest of the day ahead of us. I was rooming with George from Edinburgh who had been running marathons for over 20 years after coming out of the marines, he was impressed with my training! After registering and consuming a couple of beers (the last until post marathon), George and I found somewhere to eat and then explored Chicago. Walking past the orchestra hall, a man offered us free tickets to see some internationally renowned conductor with accompanying orchestra. Dressed in jeans, trainers and T-shirts we joined the rest of the dinner jacket and cocktail dress wearing audience for a bit of culture! 30 minutes of orchestra music later we were dead on our feet and retired to the hotel. Saturday morning I joined up with Helen and did the "International Friendship Run" which was a 3 mile jog by the lakeside with coffee and bagels afterwards, this pushed my training up to 56 miles. Helen was aiming to finish the marathon in about 4.5 hours, matching my aspirations, we decided to run the marathon together. The weather was warm for Chicago for the time of year, sunny and cloud-free and in the early 70's, not ideal running weather, but great for tourists. Spent the rest of the day sightseeing, shopping and worrying about the marathon. Every runner has their own pre-race routine for ensuring they have enough energy for the race, George's was a big meal the night before and then nothing on the morning of the race, mine involved a large sugary coffee and a bight of bagel. Our hotel was handily placed right at the start of the race which meant we didn't have to endure the portaloos and didn't have much time waiting around. Marathon time soon came around and 13 minutes after the official start we were underway! The first few miles are tightly packed with runners and it's difficult to find space to run in, we were running just under 11 minute miles for the first few. I kept myself busy calculating and recalculating our split mile times and predicted finish time. I found myself comparing this marathon to my 2 previous in New York. The crowds in Chicago are more reserved than in New York and don't go as mad when you run past them, there weren't as many people running in fancy dress and there were less Union Jacks in the crowd. I was running in my Pompey shirt and did get a couple of "go on Pompey's", but mainly I was getting attention from 20 something American women who recognised the TY sponsor as the maker of the Beany Babies, so not all bad. The miles ticked by and I soon passed my training distance record of 9 miles. Our pace had slowed a bit, maybe due to the hot weather but we'd not stopped yet. The American crowd were encouraging our progress with shouts of "good job", "great work", "looking good" and other similar standard phrases. This was nice to hear but after 15 miles it becomes quite tiring especially as you know for a fact that they are all lying! The 4.5 hours pace group came alongside us for a while and then sped off in to the distance, the calculations for our split mile times were becoming more complex and the predicted finish time was creeping towards 5 hours. 20 miles is the point where many serious runners hit "the wall" and whilst looking at the 20 mile sign my right calf cramped up a little bit in sympathy. The last few miles were tough, the crowd did not help by informing us that there wasn't far to go "only (insert lie) miles to go". After nearly 5 hours in the beating sun without stopping we were in the final mile, if my calculations were correct we'd be sub 5 hours and would set a new personal best. With the finish line in sight I made a break and sprinted over the line 4 seconds ahead of Helen. 4 hours 57 minutes and 22 seconds (pb). Got my medal, silver foil wrap thing and protein-chocolate bar and meandered through the finishing area and in to the massage tent. I was very pleased to have shaved 2 minutes off my previous best marathon time and I'm now looking to better it at my next marathon, probably Paris in April 2005. Thanks to all of you who sponsored me directly and to all the people who have taken part in the "sports" competitions that I've done this year. With gift aid and if everyone pays, the total we've raised for Cancer Research is around £9,000! Paul Emery
Chicago Marathon October 10th 2004
I found myself on a plane making my way to my 3rd marathon in 3 years, I wasn't quite sure why I had started running or indeed why I was carrying on, but by the end of the weekend I had to run 26.2 miles. I put my name down for the Chicago marathon soon after my 2nd New York marathon and chose Cancer Research UK to run for.
As a veteran marathon runner I knew exactly what training was required to see me through, 3 runs a week for about 3 months. The distance would build up and about 2 weeks before, a run of about 20 miles and then shorter runs to keep ticking over. I plotted a training plan in Excel, maybe printed it off once and this was the last I saw of it. I managed to do a few sporadic runs around Stockport of about 5 miles each, ran home from work once (8.3 miles) and did my longest run 2 weeks before the marathon of 9.2 miles. I had covered a total of 53 miles in training which was slightly over 2 marathons but over a period of 2 months! I'd started playing rugby again, avoided injury, and had played a couple of 5-a-side games so I didn't feel too unfit but it wasn't ideal.
The flight from Heathrow was good as all the marathon runners were seated together and we got to know each other over a few drinks. Most of the runners were on soft drinks, except the row I was on which had developed a special relationship with the cabin crew and was taking advantage of the free bar. I was sat next to a girl called Helen who was attempting her 1st marathon, my lack of training gave her comfort.
We'd flown out of London at 9:30am we landed in Chicago just before noon and had the rest of the day ahead of us. I was rooming with George from Edinburgh who had been running marathons for over 20 years after coming out of the marines, he was impressed with my training! After registering and consuming a couple of beers (the last until post marathon), George and I found somewhere to eat and then explored Chicago. Walking past the orchestra hall, a man offered us free tickets to see some internationally renowned conductor with accompanying orchestra. Dressed in jeans, trainers and T-shirts we joined the rest of the dinner jacket and cocktail dress wearing audience for a bit of culture! 30 minutes of orchestra music later we were dead on our feet and retired to the hotel. Saturday morning I joined up with Helen and did the "International Friendship Run" which was a 3 mile jog by the lakeside with coffee and bagels afterwards, this pushed my training up to 56 miles. Helen was aiming to finish the marathon in about 4.5 hours, matching my aspirations, we decided to run the marathon together. The weather was warm for Chicago for the time of year, sunny and cloud-free and in the early 70's, not ideal running weather, but great for tourists. Spent the rest of the day sightseeing, shopping and worrying about the marathon. Every runner has their own pre-race routine for ensuring they have enough energy for the race, George's was a big meal the night before and then nothing on the morning of the race, mine involved a large sugary coffee and a bight of bagel. Our hotel was handily placed right at the start of the race which meant we didn't have to endure the portaloos and didn't have much time waiting around. Marathon time soon came around and 13 minutes after the official start we were underway! The first few miles are tightly packed with runners and it's difficult to find space to run in, we were running just under 11 minute miles for the first few. I kept myself busy calculating and recalculating our split mile times and predicted finish time. I found myself comparing this marathon to my 2 previous in New York. The crowds in Chicago are more reserved than in New York and don't go as mad when you run past them, there weren't as many people running in fancy dress and there were less Union Jacks in the crowd. I was running in my Pompey shirt and did get a couple of "go on Pompey's", but mainly I was getting attention from 20 something American women who recognised the TY sponsor as the maker of the Beany Babies, so not all bad. The miles ticked by and I soon passed my training distance record of 9 miles. Our pace had slowed a bit, maybe due to the hot weather but we'd not stopped yet. The American crowd were encouraging our progress with shouts of "good job", "great work", "looking good" and other similar standard phrases. This was nice to hear but after 15 miles it becomes quite tiring especially as you know for a fact that they are all lying! The 4.5 hours pace group came alongside us for a while and then sped off in to the distance, the calculations for our split mile times were becoming more complex and the predicted finish time was creeping towards 5 hours. 20 miles is the point where many serious runners hit "the wall" and whilst looking at the 20 mile sign my right calf cramped up a little bit in sympathy. The last few miles were tough, the crowd did not help by informing us that there wasn't far to go "only (insert lie) miles to go". After nearly 5 hours in the beating sun without stopping we were in the final mile, if my calculations were correct we'd be sub 5 hours and would set a new personal best. With the finish line in sight I made a break and sprinted over the line 4 seconds ahead of Helen. 4 hours 57 minutes and 22 seconds (pb). Got my medal, silver foil wrap thing and protein-chocolate bar and meandered through the finishing area and in to the massage tent. I was very pleased to have shaved 2 minutes off my previous best marathon time and I'm now looking to better it at my next marathon, probably Paris in April 2005. Thanks to all of you who sponsored me directly and to all the people who have taken part in the "sports" competitions that I've done this year. With gift aid and if everyone pays, the total we've raised for Cancer Research is around £9,000! Paul Emery