A Mediocre World Marathon Majors Debut and It’s Personal Lessons
I have already had more than 30 races in the past two years under my belt, yet the 2024 Bank of America Chicago Marathon was on a whole different scale with more than 52,000 runners. The weather was near perfect, my performance … not so much.
The opportunity to have the time and money to embark on such adventures is and will always be a privilege for me. Writing down my own experiences holds myself accountable, and that’s the main reason for these blog entries about running.
Below I would like to share some of the mistakes I made, the lessons I will have hopefully learned and other tidbits that may come in handy for those taking part in their first Abbott World Marathon Majors. So far, that elusive list includes Tokyo, Boston, London, Berlin, Chicago and New York. The competition was established in 2006 and may soon expand to further locations with Sydney, Shanghai and Cape Town all hoping to join the fray.
One of them was my sneak preview of what I could expect, as the 2024 Sydney Marathon a few weeks ago attracted a field of more than 25,000 runners. My time of four and a half hours was alright and the second-fastest until then, but not quite satisfying.
Low-and-behold, I made the same rookie mistake once again in the Windy City and ended up with an official race time of 4:28:14. That beat my previous marathon performance by a mere two minutes . While that is far more consistent than the first few marathons in the previous 12 months, it still left a sour taste for me personally, as I was hoping to gradually improve.
A very average performance
So what exactly went wrong? In most of my long distance races, I am unable to produce negative splits (second half faster than first) and the biggest stage of them all so far was no different. My set goal for the first half was between 1h50 and 1h55, which somehow went to plan despite the opening stages being way too fast. The mental barrier came around 23km when I stopped once too long at a hydration station and completely zoomed out thereafter.
At some point, I remember that my head was stuck in the branches of a tree right next to the road — I had not seen it, because the mind wasn’t there at all. Needless to say, the second half was not impressive by any of my own expectations and I run-walked it off with a lot of frustration, perhaps even some lingering anger on top of that.
The face says it all
Completing any marathon in four and a half hours pretty much signifies an average time. However, it kinda feels like a slap in the face for such a flat course that is widely considered as ideal for setting new personal records. A new second-best time by two minutes doesn’t really compute with my hopes of a more linear development.
First World Major Marathon completed
Below are some (easily avoidable) reasons that instantly come to my mind:
- lack of slow distance training sessions on lower heart rate
- lack of core / strength exercises to balance the training load
- fuelling prior to and during the race was not ideal
- the stress of long and frequent travel with more than 24h upon arrival three days prior to the race
- lack of experience and mental strength
- too many races in rather short time
- started off way too fast
In absence of a regular training schedule due to work and travel, I opted for a seemingly stupid solution — adding more races to my schedule and use professional conditions in order to increase my long-distance stamina. Yeah, now that I think about it … this doesn’t really sound very smart even though my recovery has been very consistent so far. This strategy has only partly paid off and may require some reconsideration in the very near future.
If I had to guess, these past 12 to 24 months have been rather lucky for me because except for one scare during a marathon in Thailand, I have not picked up any serious / long term injury. Blisters waved hello a couple of times, then vanished soon thereafter. But this streak cannot go on forever and I am basically setting myself up for failure to a certain degree.
Obviously, there are also a number of other contributing factors from the 2024 Chicago Marathon itself that played a certain role. They would probably sound like weak excuses and I shouldn’t have been thrown off my game plan so thoroughly in the second half of the race. But as disappointing as all of the above may sound, there were also a lot of valuable lessons to be learned that may be useful for others to know.
Good to know when you enter the big show
Sydney was already big, Chicago was humongous. More than double the amount of runners only for the marathon distance and the magnitude already trickled into my mind during the Race Expo. Where there’d be a few dozen vendors in smaller races, the kit pick-up was accompanied by more than 150. I figured going there on the first of three possible days would come with smaller crowds, and that was probably the right guess.
What is the logical consequence? There will be huge crowds trying to get to the starting line, so it might be best to figure out in advance what the best plan is to get to the venue. Security checks, bag deposit etc will all take a lot more time and it’s better to be too early than to frantically rush to your corral at the last minute and become a mental distraction right before the start.
One rather unusual advice I’d like to give is to make new friends before, during and after the race. We all share the same passion, so why not use some small talk to ease the tension or provide some extra motivation to other runners even if you have never met them before? This all adds to the unique flavour during these contests of endurance and mental strength.
Mabuhay :)
These starting corrals will be a lot bigger than most other races many runners are used to, picking a strategic spot to get out of there and towards the starting area without being pushed around pays off. The opening stages will be slower for those towards the end of the pack, because there are thousands of runners on a limited space trying to get going. I opted for the “Hail Mary and needle your way through as soon as possible” path, which simply wastes energy without much return.
Holy shit, where are all those people coming from?
Nutrition and hydration stations will be a lot longer with more helpers around to hand you the drinks, so it doesn’t make sense to dash right to the very first table you see. Instead, carry on for the middle or later spots and watch out for runners jumping out of the stations without looking to avoid accidents. This can definitely throw you off the rhythm, but this is more prone to happen for the “average and slower runners”.
I often have trouble to gulp down the water or electrolytes out of the cups when they are handed over, and opted for a hand-held 500ml bottle to quick fill and drink slowly after the aid stations. The same may apply for shots or beer provided by very enthusiastic spectators. ;)
Stick with the same routines that you built up previously, for example how often you take energy gels, gummies, salt pills, bananas, or whatever else works best for you. The distance is the same, there are just a whole lot more people around you.
Once you reach the finish line, a quick selfie by the sign is alright but keep on moving to not cause any ruckus. Make sure to hydrate slowly but surely, take advantage of all goodies that are handed out to the finishers by the volunteers. The selfie with the finisher medal can wait for a little bit.
One last thing that may just be the result of a small sample size — grab your bag if you dropped something off as soon as possible. Even more so if that includes some slippers to get out of your running shoes and ease the pressure on the feet. They might be comfy during the race but feet swell during long distances.
Personal Impressions from my first World Marathon Major
Now that I have gotten a lot of things off my chest, it’s time for a personal resume of the spectacle from a few days ago.
The sheer size of the 2024 Chicago Marathon was ridiculous, and I can’t believe I missed out on this for so many years while sitting on my lazy ass.
Public transport and the entrance through the different gates in the early morning hours were certainly crammed. There were a lot of smiles and nods all around during the ride in the metro and I was more nervous than usual.
Thankfully, I went to the toilet a few times before leaving the apartment because the waiting lines near the corrals were outright ridiculous. Runners often had to wait for half an hour or more, others simply went for the select few bushes instead … shit happens. Instead, I waited for almost an hour in our corral before we were allowed to move and chatted with one of the few Filipino runners that I could spot.
From there on, it was kind of a wild ride — not on my part — but from the gargantuan armada of spectators along the course. If I was to guess, more than one million people had come out to cheer for us runners and that was overwhelming at times. It even became somewhat dangerous when some people zig-zaged right in front of our noses to cross the street.
The support in the Windy City was definitely sensational, but at times, the spectators also made the course more narrow because they occupied part of the streets and had to be pushed back. Bottlenecks were to be expected and the course had several tight turns, but it felt as if I wasn’t properly prepared for that.
I also made a lot of mistakes on the aid stations that cost me some time and a proper rhythm, placing firm needles into my confidence that kept on shrinking as the time passed by. There were also plenty of runners, who suddenly stopped without looking behind them and I avoided a clash several times to further throw me off. It’s that kind of inexperience and lack of mental strength that annoys me the most.
The run-waking towards the end felt kind of shameful for me, because I thought those times were finally over — at least on the marathon distance (Ultras are a whole different chapter). Once all was done and I had crossed the finish line, there was that distinct feeling of having fucked up another opportunity to improve.
Except for maybe the Thai races, the goodie bag with various stations and especially the fresh beer felt very good and was significantly better than Sydney, for example. I know, at some point I will be happy about this race but it’s also gonna sting for a while, too.
The Finisher beer in Chicago
Let’s hope my rookie mistakes help others who randomly stumble over this blog entry to avoid these pot-holes and can fully embrace their big races.
Time to nut up or shut up, because there will be another marathon for sure (and rather soon).