Race Recap: March Madness Half Marathon

I truthfully can’t bear in mind the final time in my grownup life that I didn’t toe the road of the March Insanity Half Marathon in Cary, IL. It gives fairly actually all the pieces you’ll be able to consider. Having run the 2022 race, right here’s what I believe stands out:

1. You could have a 50/50 shot at having essentially the most attractive climate. The center of March within the Chicagoland space can most positively supply a blanket of snow on the bottom. However this 12 months athletes have been welcomed with temps within the mid 30’s on the beginning line, not a lick of wind, and a plethora of sunshine. And by the point you completed the race, the temps have been properly into the higher 40’s. If that doesn’t scream “operating climate” I don’t know what else does.
2. The terrain is nothing to shake a stick at, particularly within the Midwest. The course gives quite a lot of slightly aggressive hills, wonderful downhill sections, and a few fairly gnarly flats as properly. The primary 2+ miles take you very steadily downhill. It’s fairly straightforward to get carried away at first, contemplating the adrenaline is pumping and also you’re absorbing the wonderful operating climate. However the hills come to greet you at mile 5, they usually by no means really cease till the end line. Names like “Sneaky Hill” and “Lung Buster Hill” are posted on the backside of the revered hills and their names ring true.
3. For those who’re coaching to run the Boston Marathon in April, this race is a superb tune up for the hills of the Boston. Athletes from everywhere in the Chicagoland space use this race as a checkpoint to see the place their health stands as they put together to run Boston. I imply, “10 Mile Hill” may fairly actually be the ugly step sister to Heartbreak Hill. Am I proper?
4. A tremendous race director and volunteers. The occasion is placed on by The Hillstriders Operating Membership and every 12 months they utterly blow my thoughts. Packet pickup is a breeze, the beginning and end line are by no means chaotic and are all the time correctly managed. Support stations are by no means missing and have the most effective volunteers. And having run this race 12 months after 12 months, I’ve grown to know all of the faces that work the occasion yearly. And at this level, I can’t think about what it will be prefer to race and never see the identical faces at each acquainted nook.