Sunday, April 7, 2013

Shamrock Shuffle 2013: Spectating and Seeing Lots of Chicago Running Bloggers

I run the Boston Marathon in a week. So as much as I wanted to run the Shamrock Shuffle this morning, I decided that my final taper should not include an 8k race. I want to arrive in Boston in one piece! So, I opted to just spectate the Shamrock Shuffle this year.

I did part of my morning run from my house to Fullerton Ave. Once there, I jumped on the Red Line train (full of runners) all the way to Jackson Blvd. Once in the Loop, I continued my run for about 2 more miles. Then, I parked myself in a nice spot on mile four of the Shamrock Shuffle course and waited for the runners to start pouring by.

Once the leaders started running by, I took a few HD videos which are now on youtube. I noticed there were three "Brooks Hanson" runners in the lead pack. (BTW I'm using their training method for the Boston Marathon, so I was glad to see them leading!)
Shamrock Shuffle Leaders near mile four
Anyway, I took videos for the first 15 minutes or so of the race. I was able to get screen grabs from my videos of several running bloggers:
First I saw Britt (aka Chicago Runner Girl)
Next up was John Garcia (aka Running News Guy)

Close behind was Amanda from Too Tall Fritz
Then Mo from I Heart Pikermis

Then Bob Richards from The Chicago Run Times

Then Maggie from MagMileRunner

Then Xaarlin came flying by...
Then Amanda from Get to Goal

You can see Britt starting around 8:44 in this video of the leaders:


John Garcia at 0:32, Mo at 1:51 and Xaarlin at 2:26 in this video:

You can see Bob Richards at 0:37,Maggie at 0:53, a "Joggler" at 2:16, and Amanda at 3:56:


Let me know if you're in a video and I can make sure I mention you, too! Anyway, I also got some various pics of runners before I headed to take the L home:
Green Guy
A young kid from the "B" corral who was hauling
A different kind of green guy
???
My neighbors Kirk and Sandi
More runners
The crowds hitting mile 4
It seemed like a great day for a race with the mild temps and the sun shining.  As I was leaving and descending the steps to go catch the Red Line, there were runners who had finished the race, waiting for trains and there were also runners runners ascending the stairs who were still making their way to start the race! I guess it must take over about an hour to get all of the corrals moving?  In summary, spectating the race was great and it really got me pumped for running in Boston next week!

**Update Sunday night**

Eric from ThisHobbitRuns found himself in video #3 at the 5:44 mark. See screen grab:
Eric from ThisHobbitRuns

37 comments:

  1. Thanks for spectating! These are some great pictures! And I love seeing all of the outfits and costumes people wear for the Shuffle. It's such a fun race!

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    1. It was my pleasure. Thanks! Yes, it looked very fun. I really want to run it next year!

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  2. Nice to see the Brooks Hanson guys up front for me too. I plan on following their training for Chicago. I'm loosely following it now to get a feel for it. You'll have to post to let us know if the training pays off in Boston. I'm one of the newer bloggers of the group (ThisHobbitRuns) and you caught me in your video as well. Part 3 at about the 5:44 mark I come into the light at the bottom of the video. I'm checking my watch, go figure.

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  3. So awesome you were out there supporting fellow runners. Nothin' better!

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    1. It was fun. I would do it again in a heartbeat! :-)

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  4. Nice pictures! Spectators were awesome this morning, and this being my first Shuffle, I was amazed at how many came out!

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    1. Thanks! It has a marathon type atmosphere. I really want to do it next year!

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  5. My head is cut off but I'm actually in the background in the picture of Mo. With a purple shirt and a red jacket tied around my waist.

    Nice pictures and video!

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    1. Yeah, I see you in the video. Did you realize that you and Mo were running basically side-by-side at the time?

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    2. No! I don't think I've ever met her. She beat me by a good 40 seconds though so I guess that side-by-side running didn't last much longer after this video!

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  6. Haha! Thanks for the photo!! I can't believe you spotted me because I've never met you in person! I always look like I'm about to die when I'm running! Thanks again!!

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    1. I guess I've seen enough pictures of you on your blog to recognize you! :-) You looked like you were doing fine!

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    2. Actually, we may have met a the Chicago Rock n' Roll Half last year. I think there is a pic of us in a group by the porta potties!

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  7. So cool that you were out there!! Thank you! I was farther back in C, so I didn't see myself, but you caught a lot of bloggers!

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    1. Unfortunately, I decided to beat the crowds home after seeing most of my friends pass by. If I spectate again, I'll try to hang around longer. :-)

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  8. Those are great pictures! Thanks!

    Haha I passed the joggler guy right before mile 3, and I was so impressed by him. Some spectators were trying to yell at him to get him to mess up!

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    1. Thanks. That's funny that people were trying to mess him up! :-)

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  9. Pete - Erica from Erica Finds at ~10:50 in the video with Britt. My friend is standing right by you so he calls out to me (and all of my teammates!) Very cool! Thank you!

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    1. Very cool I can hear your fried calling out to you! :-)

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  10. Thank you for spectating! Have to say seeing a familiar face out there is always a mood lifter- especially in the later stages of a lung burner like this race.

    I think you made the right decision regarding not running it- you've got the Super Bowl of marathons coming up in less than a week! You better believe I'll be glued to my PC at work tracking you & all my other buddies running from Hopkinton to Boston!

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    1. No problem. I loved spectating. It was the next best thing to running in the race myself! Besides seeing all of you guys, I got to see all of the leaders which is something I never get to do in most races when I'm running them. If I run Boston according to plan, you will see me running negative splits. However, if it's hot or it's just not my day, watch for huge positive splits! :-)

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    2. It would be cool to see the leaders zoom by with their graceful gazelle like strides! Regardless of your possible splits for Beantown, I'll be cheering you on from my office!

      and i passed the joggler about half a mile from the finish. couldnt let that guy beat me lol.

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  11. Man there were some truly interesting outfits out there on Sunday! Did you see the guy in the video right before Lisa Uhl passed wearing a button up dress shirt??? I didn't hear or see you, but then again I was kind of off in space. From your video the gal I was trying to race with wasn't as far in front of me as it appeared from behind, shoot. Too late now!

    What day do you leave for Boston?

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    1. I did not see the guy with the dress shirt, I will have to look for him. Crazy! By mile four of five, I'm usually zoned out as well. I'm leaving Saturday. Watching all of you guys fly by got me really pumped to run on Monday! :-)

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    2. good to hear! have a blast and can't wait to hear all about it! best boston wishes to you!

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    3. Thanks, I may need the wishes by mile 22! :-)

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  12. You are an INCREDIBLE spectator! What amazing videos and pictures! I can't believe you were able to identify and get footage of so many of the bloggers, especially amidst all of the crowds and action. Great job and I loved seeing the videos! I've never run the Shamrock Shuffle or spectated it myself, so it was fun to get a taste of what it is like through your footage.

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    1. Thanks. It was like the whole Chicago Running "Blogoverse" was running right in front of me! :-)

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  13. You have such a good eye!! One time i spectated a race looking for Matt, and only Matt, and i STILL missed him. It's a gift, you have! Good luck with Boston, hope you're feeling rested!!

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    1. Luckily, lots of the bloggers were in the "A" and "B" corrals so there wasn't wall-to-wall runners. I imagine when it gets to "D" through "Z" it gets pretty packed and would be harder to spot someone specific. Thanks, I am starting my rest today!

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  14. Thanks for these videos! I found myself in the third one, at about 4:10. (I'm in the black shorts and the pink long-sleeve.)

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