because i was recovering from major illness this year... i only ran the half this year, but it's still the most kick ass race in the midwest. i sincerely will take the illinois marathon over any number of LARGE city marathons any day. it's well organized, and no one loves their runners like champaign-urbana. seriously. it's eff'n amazing.
this is the true story (TRUE STORY!) of a girl who woke up with a sinus infection, sore throat and fever on the thursday before this half marathon and decided to run it anyway.... and despite feeling like a cooling pile of poo.... i went out there and ran a happy race, because of the spectators. the tragedy in boston was pretty fresh in my mind, and i was running with more heart than usual, the signs urging runners to "run angry" or to "run because others can't" or " "run for martin"-- honestly, i got tears in my eyes more than a couple of times. as someone who is in the life long pursuit to qualify for one of the most iconic races in the country, maybe even the world -- boston is really like the "every man's olympics" when it comes to running. it makes average people heroes, and even more so now. illinois got it right this year -- honoring that, and honoring those who fell there. this race is top notch and every thing that has made it awesome in the years past continues to make it great. i will be back to hack through 26.2 here next here. it's seriously one of my all time favorite races.