Saturday July 4 2020
It was fourth time lucky for Wisconsin. Attempt one, Devil’s Lake Trail in July – Cancelled. Attempt two, Golden Kettle McMiler in August – reduced to a time trial. Attempt three, Two Rivers 10 miler Oct 17 – cancelled last minute. So… upon hearing of the latter, I was fortunate enough to find the Jayhawk 10k in Whitewater, the same weekend as the cancelled Two Rivers event, just Saturday instead of Sunday. The Jayhawk event was a road event, and originally I had docketed something trail for Wisconsin, something rugged, maybe something on the Ice Age Trail itself, but life goes on – or so it should – so this event seemed good to me. I can’t wait until the world decides it must push back, I have set myself a goal and can’t rely on the the whims of the weak to achieve it. I have also taken a liking to road events as this states running adventure has plodded along, and that trail event in Maine, has definitely put me off hilly trails, for a while at least!
We left home Friday afternoon, flying into Chicago (IL) because it was so much cheaper than the WI airports. We picked up the rental and drove the two hours north to Whitewater, a quaint college town, eating in a nice Italian restaurant, before checking in to our Marriott hotel. We were in room 316 by the way, which seemed very apt (or ‘ironic’ if you’re an American), because EVH had died only last week.
Saturday morning, I rose, got ready and ate breakfast, then made the short drive across town to the race start point for 0740. It was pretty cold… I checked in and did a very minimal warm up before starting at 0800. It was a small event – combo of 10k then 5k race – affected predictably by COVID reaction rules, but hey, at least the race was on. Racers started 30 seconds apart, and I quickly overtook the two runners starting ahead of me, so I was out on my own. The course was an out and back 5k, completed twice with a straight turnaround for the 10k racers. It was pretty flat. No one caught me, and I even started to lap some of the slower runners. At the point of the 7.5k turn, I noticed some of the 5k runners hot on my trail. I thought they would catch me and push me hard for the finish but I kicked well and actually increased the lead I held on them. I had a gel at 3.5 miles and because my FreeSport headphones hadn’t wanted to work, just had music from the ‘phone speaker on my arm.
I seem to perform much better in colder temperatures, I was wearing my Next %s, and I PRd with a time of 38.35, feeling pretty good really. I was first place overall, so that was great – the third state I’ve won in now!
After showering, resting and eating the boxed up remains of last night’s tasty pasta (and chocolate cake), we got back on the road, and drove back to central Chicago. We dropped bags at the hotel and headed straight to check in for our boat tour – a river cruise with a focus on the architecture and history of the city. We then had some time to relax at the hotel, before grabbing an Uber to our reservation at the Michelin starred EL Ideas. It was a fun, interesting, and very lovely meal.
Sunday morning, we slept in before I snuck away to run a recovery 10 miles along the beautiful waterfront of Chicago. Running along the river then next to the lake shoreline, along the cliffs around the observatory and through the nature reserve on the city edge. The rain and wind came down, and the typically unfriendly locals seemed to think I was mad running in no shirt, but the run really felt great, and it’s always so nice to have such spectacular and different scenery to take in, especially whilst slogging out those 2020 miles.
Later on Sunday we visited the sculpture park to see Cloud Gate and grabbed a large and tasty brunch at the Michelin Guide recommended Stax cafe in Little Italy. We pottered around for a bit before heading back to O’Hare and home to the QC. A great little weekend away. Next weekend, a shorter sojourn awaits as I travel to Vermont.
Racing Americana 