Chicago Lakefront Ultramarathon 50K-- April 1, 2000

Buck Hales

My best buddy and running partner declared, sometime in 1999, that since he was turning 50 he was going to run his first ultramarathon—50 miles. Well naturally, and enthusiastically I proclaimed that I would do it with him, of course! We talked about doing Ice Age Trail Ultramarathon this May and commenced our training for it. Our training? This mainly consisted of still trying to recover from the injuries that plagued both Steve Beatty and my 1999 running years. But we were determined to see what we could do. As fate would have it, opportunities presented themselves and it looked like Karen and I would be in Europe at the time of Ice Age. But lucky for us the inaugural running of the Chicago Lakefront 50K was announced and Saint Stephen and I reset our goals, agreeing that running 50K was a good tune up for the 50 miler we will still do in Y2K. The winter was mild and we managed 16 and 20-mile runs before Valentine’s Day. Then we did our longest training run ever—at 25 miler in Morton Arboretum. It was great--until we got past mile 20. But our strategy of running 9 minutes, then walking for one minute served us well and we covered the distance in 4:03. Two weeks later we did our last long run—a little 20 miler on the lakefront, and it was awful. We were buffeted by 20 to 30 mile an hour winds blowing straight from the north—those 10 miles were harder than the whole 25 mile run. We were ready! The week before the ultra we ran one loop of the course for a tune up and to test out our secret weapons—Cooper and Miranda. The course consisted of three loops of 10.3546 miles each from the Foster Avenue Beach house to just south of the North Avenue pedestrian overpass. Very familiar terrain, indeed. The week before the event we planned our food intake—we’d heard how important this was for an ultra and Steve reported practicing eating animal crackers all week long. We were ready! We were armed with coffee, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and enough food and Gatorade to feed the whole field. We arranged to have Karen and Mary meet us in time for the third loop and deliver the dogs to us for the final loop.

What a day it was!  The spirit of the ultra was encapsulated by the behavior of the winner. The young man with green hair finished in 3:14! He then ran back to the clock tower to wait for his girlfriend and ran her in. When we finished he was shooting baskets.  But what was neat was that he hung around, met everyone, and the entire field (nearly) waited for the last person to finish.  It took him over 7 hours. By comparison Steve and I were swift! 5:42.  That includes the 20 minutes in transitions and the two prolonged pit stops I had to take. I found the biggest trouble I had was with my GI. I departed from my usual long distance regime of PowerGel and ate 1/4 of a PBJ sandwich and had coffee after the first loop when I changed shirts and headbands. Then at the clock tower (mile 12.5) I started eating M&Ms and really got a charge from them! So at the turn around point, mile 15, I had some more. That was good too! But then, alas, at mile 17.5 I ate a few more M&Ms, which was a big mistake—forcing me off the course and into the john. My stomach remained upset the rest of the race. After the second loop I changed shoes and socks and put on a fresh headband. I changed water belts to my two-bottle holder and hooked up with the dogs. I only took one more gel, and it was OK, but my stomach remained in turmoil. Running the third loop with the dogs was awesome. Nearly every one of the ultrathmarathoners said, "hey that's cheating" but in a good natured and amused way.  It was a bit challenging running with the dogs a first as they were fresh and we'd already run 20+ miles. And of course their pulling wasn't always linear; it was on occasion from side to side, especially Cooper who had to investigate the wondrous smells of spring all about him.  But after clock tower and water, the dogs settled in and we plodded along. We ran the entire race at 5:1 run-walk and this was what enabled Steve to finish. He began suffering from pain in both knees and the 1 min intervals really made the difference to him. At the final turn around, 25+ miles I suggested we run the rest of the way in, but he said he couldn't, so I happily stuck with him. After all, he and I were in this together and I had nothing to prove. Running with him was more important to me than testing myself further.  We crossed the marathon distance and hooted and hollered! 26.2 miles--now we entered into the unknown-- running further than we had ever run before.  And we went strong.  I started to experience leg pain and deep fatigue about mile 27 so the 5:1 was quite a relief.  Over and over we would catch and pass the same runners who were plodding on, running steady 11-12 mile pace. Our on and off run-walk afforded us a chance to get to know these seasoned ultra runners. At one point-nearing mile 28, Cooper had to stop and poop, so I waited, with poop-bag in hand, and we lost Steve.  I feared he had dropped back, but then I saw him up ahead of us waiving. We quickly caught him and he explained that he couldn't stop or he wouldn't be able to start again.  We motored on through Montrose harbor and around Cricket Hill. I cast my last longing glance and the hill but was actually relieved this time not to have to run over it. Steve said that, barring any unforeseen occurrences, this would be the first time we actually finished a marathon together.  Lucky number 13 for both of us.  We have run 4 together and trained for last 8 with each other, but one or the other of us ran into some trouble and the other one had to finish alone. Our last walk was at the base of Cricket Hill. We ran the rest of the way in.  It was such a thrill to get to the finish. The crowd roared and we finished, all four of us together.  The cheering and shouting caused Cooper to jump up and put his big feet on my shoulders. What a triumph. We really earned those medals!   

I loved this race. The mentality of the ultramarathoner encapsulates the very best aspects of the marathoner's.  The esprit du corps, the sincere encouragement and acceptance of every participant as an equal, as a peer, and as a comrade was unequaled by any other event.   It was incredible.  And it was really fun!  The race presented a unique opportunity to run the last 10 miles with my dogs which made it very special as I run with them so regularly.  Each loop as we saw the faster and slower runners, we all saluted each other, offering encouragement.  It was great seeing the usual lake front crowd of runners.  We see the TNT, CARA, Fleet Feet and Domantay runners each week when we do our long runs. This time they all cheered us on, encouraging our participation in the event.  Imagine! We ran 31 miles! wow! I am so pleased that it was so doable! I was sore as hell, but not hurt. I felt very tired, but really calm and accomplished.  This was one of the very best running experiences I have ever had-- facing adversity and being equal to it, of course, makes it the challenge it is, but the spirit of this event made it so very special.  The organizers, the participants, the volunteers, and all the spectator runners collectively made this a unique and wonderful time. I had a heck of a lot of fun.