Naperville Half Marathon. Highlights and Video.

 Yet another Race to add to Cheryl's "Wall of Fame."   The entire thing was over so quickly!   Half marathons seem to be far easier to handle than the full Marathon deal.  Not only for me, but also for Cheryl.




We rose up in the early hours of sunlight to arrive at the start line.  We were only about 3 miles from the start, so this allowed us to "sleep in" a bit and not rush for parking.  Oh!  And parking was relatively easy.  Aside from some guy who was low on coffee parking next to us.   But that is another story....  even though "abrasive" may be too kind of a word.  ( Hey!  I had not had any coffee either, but you did not see me being rude to anyone!)

So let's talk about her results.

Official time: 1:41:46
Age group.  8th out of 311
Female.  47th out of 1536

Cheryl at the start

I'm finally able to catch her!

Overall placement:  220th out of 2764 Half Marathon Runners
Average pace:  7:47 minute mile. ( That is pretty good!  I doubt I could run a single mile under 8 minutes now)

Cheryl at Mile 8!

The Full Marathoners also ran the race with the halfers.   So the total number of runners was actually larger.  ( 650 additional runners.  Totaling a little over 3400 runners for the race.....   Not too small.)

Cheryl at Mile 11!

I have to point out that races of this size are much more "Ethan Friendly" than the larger ones.  I was able to catch her at several different points during this race.  AND...I was able to actually FIND her in the cluster of runners.  Too bad the camera is not the best with "instant focus" or rapid snap shots.   I guess the old Nikon ONE camera spoiled me.

Cheryl at the finish!  The bright clothes and thin crowd helped!

Cheryl said the actual race was not as exciting as Chicago....  No surprise there.

Very Pretty area

Calder sculpture?  

  But it was a calming run through residential streets lined with colorful autumn trees. The crowd was not overbearing and the people were nice.  In all,  a short, pleasant run.   What more is there to say about that?

Hosted by SUBARU!

Cheryl helps drive home.

We did not stick around long after Cheryl finished.   Instead, we headed back to the room, showered up, and ate some breakfast.  On the way home, we had to navigate the IKEA load under our elbows and back seat.  Surprisingly, it was not a terrible ordeal, and we still had enough energy to assemble the IKEA furniture and replace the old stuff.

With all that IKEA furniture

 I'm not sure if it was because I had energy or if I simply did not want to sit around the apartment with all those boxes in the living room.

Pushing out from the trunk!

So there it is.  We took the day off from running today and are, instead, finishing up stocking orders and basically relaxing.  Well...  I am, anyway.   Cheryl continues to drudge in the shop trying to handle custom orders and answer questions.

Team Allenbrite's IKEA Trip, With Attached Half-Marathon.

Early Morning

Cold, but Cheryl is ready!

After an early start this morning,  Cheryl and I headed to IKEA and decided we would run in this Half-Marathon in Naperville while were were in the area.  It may sound odd that we put IKEA ahead of the Half-Marathon...but it is true!   Cheryl wants to try to get in as many fall races in as she can before the snow flies.

Cheryl picks up her packet.

She was too late to get a shirt this time.

For being a "small" marathon/ half-marathon,   Naperville brags over 8000 runners for tomorrow.   We shall see about that.   The EXPO was not as HUGE as one might expect a race of this size to be.  Grandma's Marathon in Duluth MN was only 6500 people and still had a larger EXPO. Not that it matters much...   we were not there to purchase anything.   So Cheryl checked in; received her bib number and packet;  and we headed over to IKEA.

The Map of the race.   Looks like fun.

I'm impressed we were able to buy as much stuff as we did.   It is currently in the car and we still have a little room for our luggage!  We ate some food and planned for our next visit...since most of our planned purchases would not all fit in the Subie in one trip.

Sponsered by SUBARU

IKEA in the distance.

IKEA in range!

After IKEA,   Cheryl urged me to cross the road and pick up some Honey Brown while we were here.   Isn't she AWESOME!   I'm currently kicking back and enjoying one now at room temperature.   ( I didn't want to wait for it to cool down in the mini-fridge.

My "Ethan Time" with Honey Brown.

Tomorrow's race is bright and early at 7 AM.   Looks like it is supposed to start off cold and rise up to 70 degrees...sometime during the day.  Probably AFTER the race.   So Cheryl may have a challenge picking out the right clothing to race in.  

As for me,  I see a few areas I may be able to catch her picture...  but if the numbers of runners are true...  I may have as tough a time trying to find her as I did during the Chicago Marathon.   We shall see.

In the mean time..the trip has already been successful, since we already visited IKEA and managed to fit everything in the car without breaking any windows.  So..   in reality,   the Half Marathon is simply Icing on the cake.   Wish us luck!