There are a couple races in town that finish at or around one of our city’s stadiums. If we were to rate them in terms of “sports fantasy achieved”, the best has to be the Soldier Field 10, as you get to run onto the titular field itself, finish on the 50-yard , and then continue across the field and linger in the end zone until a staffer asks you to move along. The “Mad Dash to Madison” didn’t go inside United Center at all, but got novelty points for having an in-line skate division (think Blackhawks, not Bulls). The Home Team Charity Run finished inside Cellular Field, but at least the year I ran it, had runners entering the field near second base and then running around the edge of the diamond the wrong way—past first and then to home. And then there’s the Race to Wrigley. It’s touted that the race finishes inside Wrigley Field, but in fact it just passes runners through the concession area. And that was just in past years—this year, because of the ongoing construction at Wrigley, the race just skirted the whole stadium. At least the shirt was appropriately baseball themed.

This race continues my streak of only getting out for races, not training runs. My heel is still bugging me, without running, so I’m wondering if running could really make it any worse. That sounds kinda dumb, doesn’t it?

Oh, there was one more novel thing about the race. I’ve gotten a lot of different food giveaways after races. Lots of sports drinks, of course, and plenty of trial size snacks. But this was the first time I’ve ever been given an entire, raw steak.

Time: 32:42
Pace: 10:33
Place: 1085 / 2089
Place in Sex: 604 / 936
Place in Age Group (M45-49): 40 / 73