Tuesday, May 10, 2016

2016 Cinco de Miler race recap

Last Saturday was my second year running the Cinco de Miler. Last year the race was a blast with a fantastic shirt and one of my all-time favorite medals. The swag alone motivated me to sign up again this year!
On race morning, Marcia was so gracious to pick me up and drive to the race. Enroute, the weather was very sketchy - it was raining, windy, and we saw some flashes of lightning in the sky. Yikes!

We arrived on site to find everything shuttered down, and wondered if they were cancelling the event? It turns out the race organizers had sent everyone to one of the underground parking garages to take cover from the elements. A few minutes later, they gave the "all clear" and hordes of folks came streaming out.

This was the scene at the starting line. Notice the flying of both the Mexican and American flags:
Lots of folks were dressed festively for the occasion, like these two (the person on the left is wearing the awesome race shirt):
After a celebratory rendition of the Mexican and U.S. national anthems, we were off! 

Marcia and I kept the pace comfortable and chatted away while we were running. It was really great to have the time to catch up with her. 

The course was an out-and-back along Lake Shore Drive and the lakefront path. As the race progressed, the skies cleared up, but the wind didn't stop. On the outbound, the wind was at our backs - and as soon as we hit the return, we were met with an ENORMOUS wall of wind. Holy cow! I was super thankful to have Marcia's company, otherwise, I would have been miserable pushing through that wind. There were times it reminded me of being on a treadmill because I was exerting so much effort but felt like I was barely moving forward.

Let's go into photo-recap mode. Here is some of the gorgeous scenery along the course:
A mariachi band was playing at one of the aid stations:
It was so windy that most of the garbage bins had blown down and were lying in various states of ruin everywhere the eye could see:
Marcia and me after crossing the finish line:
The adorable donkey medal doubles as a bottle-opener:
Marcia tracked our moving time (i.e., adjusted to exclude all of our photo stops, etc), which came out to 48:14. Our unadjusted/official time was 49:41. 

Here's a panoramic view of the post-race festival with a nice view of Soldier Field and the skyline in the backdrop:

The crowds swarmed the beer tents, of course:
Post-race food offerings included a tamale, chips, and salsa. I missed the horchata and churros they served last year, but still enjoyed the selection. I love refueling with salty foods.

Marcia noticed the mechanical bull rides at the post-race party had almost no line, so we popped in. While we were waiting, we noticed this woman's beautiful themed top. She told us she made it herself!
Time for me to embark on my inaugural mechanical bull ride. I didn't realize how tall the bull is! It was a lumbering struggle for me to get on.
More awkwardness:
After taking a few steps back and getting a running start, I finally managed to kind of springboard myself on. Yee-haw!!!
My triumph was extremely short-lived. Not even a half-second after the bull started moving, I took a nosedive and went SPLAT:
Thanks to Marcia for getting these action photos of me! I fully understand now why the mechanical bull is set up in the middle of a giant inflatable platform. =D Marcia had much better luck on the mechanical bull than I did, by the way. Check out her full race recap here.

And so ends my second running of the Cinco de Miler! Despite the crazy winds, I had a great time at the festivities. I might need to add mechanical bull-riding to my training plan, though, heh. Until the next time!

My next race: the Super Sunny 5K on June 4

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Linking up with MarciaPatti, and Erika for Tuesdays on the Run.

22 comments:

  1. Crazy weather and bib fiasco aside, it was a really fun race. Who knew mounting a bull could be so challenging? Great to see you and catch up as always!

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    1. It was so great to see you and catch up, as always!!! Thanks again for driving! I have a lot more respect now for the difficulty of bull-riding or those folks you see in the rodeos. I had no idea it was so tough! Cheers to the awesome race shirt which I am super excited to wear all the time now. =)

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  2. Congratulations on your race! Looks like it was a fun one and the weather was nice. I also did a Cinco de Mayo Race and the weather was not cooperating. Rain the whole time. How fun there was a mechanical bull. Never rode on one.

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    1. Thanks Lacey! I am looking forward to reading your race recap on your Cinco de May race, despite the rain. Mechanical bulls are no joke! They are much more difficult to ride (and to mount) than they look!

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  3. Sounds like a good time. Heck, I'd do this one just to ride the bull! I was out for a run that morning when the wind blasted in too. That was crazy!

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    1. Wasn't that wind crazy??? I was thankful it was only a 5-mile race because the longer it went on, the harder it was to deal with. OMG - knowing you, you would completely show that mechanical bull who is boss!!!

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  4. This race looks so fun and I love the shirts and medals! I'm happy you had company for that horrible wind to make it less miserable!

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    1. Thanks Kim - the race is very festive and well done! Definitely a race where the swag makes it a huge standout. =) Thank goodness for Marcia, indeed. I am glad you were able to run a strong race at Wisconsin that same morning despite having to deal with similarly challenging conditions!!!

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  5. Everything is so festive, and I love it when people get in the spirit of a race.

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    1. Completely agree! I think this is one of the reasons why Disney races are such a blast - everyone gets very much into the spirit of the race!!! It's fun seeing folks putting together great costumes!

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  6. Great job considering the wall of wind you guys had to deal with on the return trip! Love the pics especially the action shots of your ride on the mechanical bull! I'd love to try doing that someday! :)

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    1. Thanks Pete! Why does it always seem that these races are set up so we are running head first into the wind on the way back, right? I think you would really enjoy Cinco de Miler - and you would totally rock the mechanical bull!!!

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  7. They did the Mexican National Anthem?! What?! That is amazing! It has been years since I've done the National Mexican Anthem!! I could cry singing it!

    It is so cool that you got to do a race with Marcia! I need to make more running friends.

    My god! there was so much good food!

    I told Marcia this, and i'll tell you the same, If there was a mariachi in the course, I would stop and sing ... and you would find me there for the rest of the race!

    How fun!!

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    1. Oh my goodness, Ana - you would have had a BLAST running Cinco de Miler! If you ever want to come visit Chicago (I would love to show you around!), it'd be great to time it during this race! There's also a great Carrera de los Muerto race in November (incidentally, it is also famous for its awesome race shirt) which I bet you'd love, too!!! Both are SUPER festive, spirited races. YAY on the mariachi!!! TOO FUN!!!!!

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  8. Looks like you and Marcia had lots of fun despite the crazy winds! Great job! :)

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    1. Thanks so much, Kayla! It was windy in the windy city! =)

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  9. I was further north along Lake Michigan and the winds were pretty terrible up there too! Rough day for racing! That's great that you had good company through the entire race - that always helps :)

    That post-race party looks like so much fun! And I love the festive shirts and medals!

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    1. Marcia and I were thinking about everyone at the Wisconsin festivities! What a brutal day for all of us to be racing! Congratulations to you on your new PRPR that day despite the crazy winds. Imagine how well you would have done in good weather conditions! And yes - thank goodness for Marcia, she made a huge difference.

      I think you would really enjoy Cinco de Miler! If the schedule lines up, maybe we could run it together in the future. =)

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  10. hehehe, that sounds an awesome race! I've only gotten to ride a mechanical bull a couple times in my life, but it's super fun! Glad you survived the crazy winds!

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    1. Thanks Farrah! Hallelujah for surviving crazy winds. =) You must be the local expert in mechanical bull riding if you've been able to do it a couple of times! What occasions did you get to ride?!?!?

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  11. Congrats on the race! I'm not usually all that into medals, but that medal is seriously awesome. I can't imagine fighting that wind on Saturday through a run - it was hard enough just to be outside, period, in that weather, never mind running in it!

    Bethany @ Accidental Intentions

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    1. Thank you, Bethany! RAM Racing does the medals extremely well, indeed. Kudos to their medal designer! And yes - it was very windy in the windy city. But hey, better than rain or snow, right? =D

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