Illinois Marathon 2010

The race was May 1st, the doubt, it was going to take place started April 30th as Danny Churchward, Tracy, and myself were finishing the 11 hour drive to Champaign/Urbana Illinois. We had the local radio classic rock station on in the car and we kept hearing this loud buzzing which was interupting the music every 15 mins or so. As we were parking at the University of Illinois, site of everything from Expo, Start, and Finish, we realized that the buzzing on the radio was followed by local weather warnings of tornadoes in the area. That explained the 45mph winds going on. So once inside the expo and talking to the locals, they get these warnings all the time in the Mid-West and emergency procedures are in place just in case, but not likely to see a twister anyway.Unfortunately, the weather forcast for Saturday was thunderstorms including lightning, which they had rumoured would also postpone or even cancel all races.Thankfully this didnt happen, instead the clouds cleared, the wind ceased, and by mile 4 the sun came out for one hot and humid marathon.Great, I think? Our sunglasses are in the car because its supposed to rain!

This was a 10 out of 10 Roger recommended race.I loved the course, mostly flat, the poeple, non stop from start to finish actually said thanks for running here. Awesome shirt,medal, and food after was Poppa John's Pizza and Pasta. The finish, last mile all downhill, was into University of Illinois Stadium from the endzone to the finish line right on the 50 yd line were you could see yourself on the jumbotron screen. You couldn't help but love this set up. Danny hadn't run a marathon in well over a year and had a strong run. Tracy and I dont do so well in the heat but still enjoyed this marathon.I ran with a girl from Wawa for a while and passed a Canadian flag someone had on the sidelines. If it wasn't so far away I would do this one again, it's well worth going.The whole city, and state for that matter wears Orange, Blue, or both, or has a big"I" on their shirts. They love Illinois. So thanks to a Saturday race, we also got some shopping in, and were able to relax for a nice dinner and drinks in Michigan City Indiana. Thats as far as we travelled back after the race to split up the long drive home for the night.If you want to do marathon in Illinois and cant get into Chicago, do this one. Its very affordable and east to get around.