Christie Clinic Illinois Half Marathon Recap and Review

Disclaimer: I received an entry to Christie Clinic Illinois Half Marathon to review as part of being a BibRave Pro. Learn more about becoming a BibRave Pro ambassador, and check out BibRave.com to review, find, and write race reviews!  

Overall the Christie Clinic Illinois marathon weekend was an excellent experience. The expo, races, support and spectators put on a well organized event. Here is my recap from the weekend:

Expo/Packet Pick-Up

The Expo/Packet Pick-Up was a breeze. Both were held in the Activities Center of the University of Illinois so there was plenty of parking. The traffic was well directed and although the road closures were slightly confusing, getting around was very intuitive and well-marked. The stadium is built to accommodate masses of people so there were plenty of places to park. Packet pick-up went quickly and the Expo had many booths set-up with vendors and sponsors of the race.

Course

The half marathon course took some big loops around the city and around the campus. A flat and fast course is a perfect set-up if you're looking to PR. Turns were well-marked and there were volunteers everywhere. Because the course ran through town it seemed like there was crowd support throughout the entire race. They started everyone in corrals to give everyone a little more space and kept things moving along. Aid stations were set-up, stocked and located every 3-4 miles or so. They didn't leave out any detail - there were shelter stations marked along the course in case of emergency, I saw medical tents as frequently as I did water stations and Joe's Pacers provided a wide variety of pacing starting at 1 hour 35 minutes. The course was blooming with Spring growth (maybe not so great if you have allergies?) but made for a very pleasant backdrop.

Race Swag

At the packet pick-up you received a drawstring bag and race t-shirt in a technical fabric and also available in women's sizing. At the finish they handed out the medals and foil blankets which was helpful because it started to get windy and rainy. I did notice that the t-shirts and backpacks said "2020" on the front but they added a "Better Together 2022" on the back to update them.

My Race Recap

I set out with ambitious goals at the beginning of my training cycle to go for the 1:35 time range. I know I have it in me but this training cycle wasn't the one to hit it. After getting COVID in January, another round of some sickness in April and an extra heavy stress load from work I realized I took on more than I could handle so back-tracking my goal to sub 1:40 was the next step. The PR would have to go on hold.

I set out with a plan of 4 miles with the 1:40 pace group and then progress the next 4 into the 7:25 ish pace range and then push the next 3 into 7:20 and finish the last 2 with whatever was left in the tank. In theory that sounded good. In actuality I did the first 8 right on and then really started to struggle the last 5. I had a guy that pulled me along through 5-10 but I just couldn't hang on.

I had no gear change. The 1:40 pacer caught back up to me around mile 11.5 and I was able to hang onto him until the finish and slip in just under 1:40 with a 1:39.37. In hindsight I should have just stayed with the pace group and see if I could make a move around mile 10 with a strong finish instead of going out faster and hanging on for dear life but of course, hindsight is 20/20.

 After the race the guy who I was running with for most of the race and I exchanged thank you's - we both were under the impression that the other person was pushing us along and how helpful we were to each other. I love the running community for interactions like that. I thanked the pacer for pushing me along when I was struggling and found out he happens to know the founders of BibRave (small world, right?) I waited for the other two BibRave Pros to finish, grab a finish line photo and then head out. 

Overall I was impressed with the organization and logistics of the race weekend. The weather held off and Christie Clinic put on a great event.