2010 Chicago Marathon Expo Review.

The 2010 Chicago Marathon was my 2nd marathon ever.

My 1st marathon was the 2010 Los Angeles Marathon.  It was on their new course, starting at Dodgers Stadium to the sea in Santa Monica, CA.  I finished at a conservative and easy:  6:11:xx over a not very flat and fast course.


Because the Chicago Marathon Expo and event itself are pretty big by themselves, I'll cover them in separate posts.

Today's post is about the Expo.


Expo: Friday
Shuttles
Free shuttles were available to the Expo from several locations.  I took a shuttle from the Chicago Hilton to McCormick Place, the site of the Expo.

Welcome.

The event was on 10/10/10.  The event slogan was, "Date to Motivate."

Wrong T Shirt
My packet pickup had only 1 hiccup.  They had defaulted me to a Women's L.  Because of my broad shoulders, I have always put down Men's/Unisex L.

To my relief, the T shirt exchange was rather painless.


Appearances of Elite Runners and Coaches
I was in awe of some of the elite runners and coaches appearing at the Expo.

Ultramathoner Dean Karnazes appeared at the North Face and WV booths.

Ryan Hall appeared at the Asics and the Hall Steps Foundation booths.

Bart Yassos greeted runners and signed books at the Runner's World booth.

Famed coach, Hal Hidgon, greeted runners and signed books at his own booth, I believe.

Fun Stuff
In some ways, I am glad I am not winning this hefty trophy because I don't want to imagine the cost of shipping it or what my luggage fees would be.

The Chicago Marathon Trophy.  The course preview is in the background.

Nike was a huge sponsor for the event and had a large retail floor space for their apparel, shoes and Nike+ computers.  I recognized and said, "Hello," to Lauren, who works for Nike.  She works some of the running events in my area and was in town working at the Expo.

Nike also had a names wall, listing the names of all the participants in the marathon.  A names wall also appears outside the Niketown store in Chicago, IL.

The Nike names wall proclaimed, "We are all marathoners."

It took me a short while, but I eventually found my name, "Mae Lee."

In the VW booth, they had the Doodle Bug.

Now kids, don't try this at home now.

Bank of America also had a photo booth were you can pose for a pic in front of a green screen, and they'll insert a background into the back.

Those who love to shop can also do some serious damage to their wallets.  Plenty of runners clothing and accessories to choose from.  All the big names were there:  Nike, Brooks, Asics, New Balance, the North Face and Mizuno.

Currently, I seem to have everything.  I spent less than $40.  I purchased an Asics T shirt, 2 Accel Gels and a packet of orange-flavored Endurox R4.

The food samples I paid most attention to was the following:

1. Gatorade - Official course fluids.
2. Accel Gel - Official course gel.

Expo:  Saturday
I also stopped by the Expo briefly on Saturday.

I ran into the Prez.  He and a couple of frequent marathoners founded the Marathon Maniacs and later founded the Half Fanatics.

The Prez and Me.

I also stopped by the New Balance booth.

Khalid Khannouchi appeared at the New Balance and Gatorade booths.  He won the Chicago Marathon twice and is the American world record holder for the marathon.

The Course Seminar
I only attended 1 seminar over the course of the Expo.  It was the Course Seminar, which brought some anxiety to my race day.

The Good:
Aid stations are a block long or longer.

The Bad:

1. Course of 6 hours and 30 minutes is based on gun time, not chip time.
2. Uh, oh...  I had signed up for the event thinking it was 6 hours and 30 minutes chip time.
3. I heard there were 45,000 participants for this event, leaving me in way back.
4. I was told that they do leave The Finish opened for slower folks, but they might have to use sidewalks and stop signs along the way.
5. Also, the aid stations won't be opened past a certain point when the end vehicle goes thru.

Training Going In
I did 3 - 20 mile wogs going into the Chicago Marathon.

1. The Best:  4:11:xx
2. The Worst:  4:31:xx  ( @ Mile 16: felt overheated and @ Mile 19:  cramped up)

Given the times of my 20 mile wogs, this can get awfully close to 6 hours and 30 minutes gun time.

I left the Expo with some anxiety.


I'll try to cover my Chicago Marathon within the next couple of days.