The Results Are In!

The 2011 Illinois Marathon Relay is officially over and the results are in.  Team Brothers & Sisters kicked major booty!!!  I had originally set a goal of 4:20 to finish the whole route.  That worked out to be about 10 minutes per mile, which I thought was a very respectable race.  We blew that out of the water; we finished in 4:03.  Team Brothers & Sisters finished 27 out of 63 mixed (boys and girls on the same team) teams.

The only runner not to run better than expected was me.  I had a goal of 49 minutes and I finished in 50:30.  Honestly not too bad and my original goal may have been a little lofty, but all of it matters very little to me.  I had an absolute blast with this race!  It was so much fun to have crowds cheering on the streets and volunteers at hydration stations and so many runners on the streets.  I had a blast running with my teammates!  I had so much fun cheering other runners on while we waited for teammates at exchange zones.  I enjoyed hyping up the crowds.  Overall, I just love the Illinois Marathon Experience!

I ran well enough for me to seriously consider a half marathon (I sincerely hope to accomplish this in the next year), and I am even throwing the idea of a full marathon around. Watching so many of the runners at the Illinois Marathon really made me realize that the pace doesn't really matter; it's getting to the finish line and enjoying yourself that matters the most.  However, another thing that I realized was that as long as I can get a good team together, I will never run anything other than the relay at the Illinois Marathon.  It is just too much fun!