#28 Hyde Park Blast

#28 was the Hyde Park Blast.  This day-long event raises money for The Cure Starts Now and is held in Hyde Park Square.  Events include a 4 mile Run/Walk, a kid's race, a block party, an elite run, and a bike race. 

First, I want to state that since the total distance for this race was 4 miles and a 5K equals only 3.1 miles, I get a credit for .9 miles which I am free to use in any way I see fit.  If we can all agree to that, then I can continue.  Okay?

Okay.

The race started earlier (at 7:30 AM) than most of the other races I have been in.   And I wanted to be back in my bed so very much.  

Most of the other 5Ks start later, allowing the serious runners with longer distances to take advantage of the cooler morning air.  As with most races, all participants got a t-shirt.  This race had pink shirts for females and blue shirts for males.  Thank God for gender identification or I would have been up a creek.  I was surrounded by incredibly fit 20-somethings with about 3% body fat.  A lot of them. They were everywhere.  So the gender ID was helpful. (If there was a "sarcasm font", I would use it here.)

The race starts just beyond the Square, winds through Hyde Park, up Erie Avenue, over to the Plaza, back through Marburg Ave, in front of the Police Station and the architecturally "weird" house, onto Observatory, finally ending in Hyde Park Square.  Lots of hills.

I must say that Jo and I made excellent time.  It only got better towards the end when, upon seeing the finish line before us, we started to run.  We passed a gaggle of 20-somethings who clearly were still recovering from the night before.  As we passed them, they snidely remarked "Bring it on!"  It took everything I had not to flip them off but I though if I even turn around slightly, I may fall.  And that would not look good and in this race, it's all about looking good.

We went back for the evening race of Elite Runners.  There were about 20 contestants entered.  It started at 8 PM and ended at 8:14.  The winner ran a 5K in 14 minutes flat.  And then kept going, chasing the pace car.  Only when the pace car pulled over did he figure it out.  

Then the bike race.  Zipping around Hyde Park Square and up to another street for a 1 mile loop on bikes for about a ba-jillion turns.  Witnessed some excellent bike crashes. There is nothing like the sound of skin on pavement to really make your evening.  

I am not an experienced bike race fan so I was asking some basic questions.  How many times will they go around? What happens if the lead racer catches the pace car?  What happens if the pace car crashes?  What if the pace car goes over the barricade?  Should we be standing this close to the barricade?  Where is the beer?  Is Graeter's open now?  Can we get ice cream?  How about waffles with chocolate and whipped cream?  

As always, it was very educational.  And that's what this journey has taught me.  At least that's what I tell myself, early in the morning, when I have to "school" a gaggle of 20-somethings.