Our long journey began by heading from Edinburgh to London by train, where we were treated to delightful hospitality from friends Stuart and Charlotte; including some delicious chilli and a most awesome tart! After gratefully receiving our bed for the night we headed across town to Heathrow, arriving off the Express to the sounds of 'Leaving on a jet plane' we were all ready to go. Sunshine here we come...
One long haul flight later and after a 2 hour wait to clear immigration, we were finally in the land of the free. The immigration man even wished me luck in the race! Big brother Ed came to greet us and soon we were settled in to life in Chicago. A spectacular place to carb load and relax in the sunshine, we had 3 days to acclimatise and banish the jet lag.
The morning of the half marathon arrived way too early. 5am to be precise. Time for a quick breakfast before heading south across town to try to find a parking place and the start line. We abandoned the car in an 'interesting' suburb - taking care to hide all valuables and wondering if the car would still have wheels when we got back! Parking far away had one advantage of giving us a proper warm up for once.
Straight on to the start line we went and started our run in the beautiful morning sun. The conditions were kind; not too hot (yet) and the wind was conspicuous in its absence. We were also helped along by the course entertainment. I feared I was hallucinating early on when I thought I could hear bagpipes... Indeed bagpipes they were, welcoming across the first mile. Another personal highlight was the majorettes using batons shaped like guns - only in America!
The crowd showed enthusiasm like no other. Banners a plenty and cheers of 'You got this Roz' kept the motivation up. The route helped us out by being flat as a pancake with views of the Chicago skyline intermingled with the odd cloud. That's not to say it wasn't tough. Bri was battling with calf pain, Ed had only done 1 training run and I hadn't completed more than 6 miles this year. We weren't helping ourselves...
Despite this, the team put in some impressive performances. Brian smashed his personal best (1hr 33 - super fast). Ed snuck in under 2 hours helped along by the motivator of extra sponsor money and I completed it without dying. Success all round! For some reason none of us felt like queuing up for the free pizza and beer so we made the long, slow walk back to the car. It was still there. Hurrah!
Recovery was much assisted by huge slices of Chicago Pizza Pie and some well deserved beverages. That and hearing we had reached our £5000 target. Amazing! Thanks to all who have sponsored us so far. We have gone above and beyond our initial hopes and it's all thanks to you. Visit www.justgiving.com/teams/FCF to sponsor us or see how we are getting on in reaching our new target.
Thanks to Ed and Amy for hosting us and showing us the sights of Chicago. We had a brilliant time and enjoyed every moment. Special thanks to Ed for joining us on the run too - I'm sure you could think of many other more enjoyable ways to spend a Sunday morning. Thanks also to Stuart and Charlotte for hosting us in London and Sophie for attempting to keep us awake for lunch mid way through our epic return journey. We're now back in Edinburgh for the final 3 challenges.... Home sweet home!
No comments:
Post a Comment