Yesterday I participated in the Nike 10K Human Race in Chicago at the Soldier Field. It was both an amazing and fun experience to witness 14,000 people of various ages run with motivating spirit. When I arrived to the soldier field I saw thousands of people dressed in light red shirts, like I did, with numbers of the front and the nike "Just do it" on the back.
What was truly amazing is the event overall organization in the entire out door facilities as well as the indoor stadium of the Soldier Field. Hundreds of people lined up just to use the restroom, no one complained about the longs waiting lines. While I stood in line, all I heard is small conversations of running related timings, gear, and how people did in other running events. By the time one gets to use the rest room, only then one gets to realize that there is yet another line for the hand wash sink. Once again, almost everyone kept a smily face, some were stretching their bodies, others were in the zone.
Then I walked toward the gear check point inside the Soldier Field to checking my bag that had my precious camera and some other miscellaneous things. There were thousands of people lined up to check in their gear, hundreds of volunteers who were friendly and were working hard to organize runner's bag. When I checked in my bag, I thought to myself that I was crazy for leaving my camera in the bag that would be placed amongst thousands of other runners' bags. All I got is a wrist band that had my bag number printed on it. I was worried that I may lose my camera inside my bag.
After standing in so many different lines for 3 hours, my legs were already sore at this point. The race started 15 minutes later than the scheduler time because they needed to check that Lake Shore Drive is safely set for the runners. In the mean time I was standing close to thousands of runners, who were waiting for their turn to start the run. Some times standing in crowds and being forced to unwillingly to listen to people conversation and listen to some loud iPod music are not the best thing. Anyway, when my turn to run came, I was so glad to run away from the crowd. I felt a burst of energy even though I was standing on my feet for nearly 4 hours prior to the race.
I run the first 5K pain free and I did not feel the need to drink water. The second half of the race was facing the lake front along lake Shore Drive. The weather was perfect and the sunset looked beautiful to watch. What was encouraging during the race is after each mile, there is a kind of refreshment tables for the runner such as Gatorade, water, water sprinklers, and cheering crowds. If it was not for the refreshments I was not able to keep running, I needed to be motivated to run. I took 3 breaks and splashed water on my body few time as I was feeling warm and weaker. Also, I was motivated to keep running when I saw seven and ten year olds run with their father as well as a man on the wheel chair. I was amazed by how far can people push their limits in positive ways.
During my last few miles I thought of many things that I were close to my heart, things that were rather painful to achieve, yet at the end I did achieve, these thoughts were encouraging and assuring to me especially when my legs were hurting me.
As I got closer to the finish line, I began to run faster and was able to finish my 10K in 50 minutes. It was a great feeling to know that I finished another race that I dedicated of my grandpa, whom I wish a speedy recovery.
After the race I rushed to get a water and Gatorade. Then I walked to pick up my bag that was returned to me with everything in place, including my camera. I was amazed by the organization, coordination of all the facilities, and the great spirit of everyone who was running the race, working to help the runner, cheering crowds, simply every one. This race is one of the most amazing experiences that I have had this summer.
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