Track me, maybe?

So if you, like me, are excited for me to run the Chicago Marathon on Sunday, you may be thinking, "Wow Jocelyn how can I track you?" You might not be, but I'm going to tell you anyways! 

My bib # is 50108. (Aside: That's right, there's 50,000 runners. Amazing. The town I grew up in, Acushnet, MA, had a population of 10,303 in the 2010 census). If you would like to "follow" me via text, you can sign up with my bib # here. You will get my 10K, half marathon, 30K, and finish splits. 

Tim and my parents are going to spectate. I am picking out a few places for them to see. You can meet up with them (let me know if you need Tim's #). Or if you have your own plans to spectate elsewhere for the race, PLEASE let me know approximately where so I can look out for you. I'm sure I will be happy to see familiar faces!

Here is the map of the Chicago Marathon. I have been staring at this course now for 5 months-it's hanging up at my desk. I have taken the bus/walked/run many of these streets before, but this is different! The course runs through downtown, up to the north side, past my first apartment, through Lincoln Park where I have run many 5Ks, past the gym where I've been training, past my last apartment, the place where Tim and I had our first date, the running store where I've spent loads of money, past my office, by the United Center, through areas I've never been to, Chinatown (which I hear is just a big party on race day!), by Sox Park, and finally up Michigan, past "the legs" where all of our Saturday runs have started, and finally up Mount Roosevelt to the finish in Grant Park. 

I am anticipating seeing off my cheer squad when I head into to the start corrals around 7am, and them heading up to Clark/Division on the Red Line where they can see me around Miles 4 &11. After that, I think the next place for them will be in Chinatown, around Mile 21. Hopefully they can make it back to Roosevelt in time to see me right near the end at Mile 26. It's an ambitious plan, let's hope it works!

You know how Tim likes to tweet! So he will use the hashtag for the race is #runladyrun. Hopefully he can update you if the above plans change. 

Before you go, here's some fun facts about the Chicago Marathon (thanks wikipedia):

• The Chicago Marathon is one of the five World Major Marathons, which includes Boston, Chicago, New York, Berlin, and London. 
• This year is the race's official 35th anniversary, although the race existed in different forms before 1977. Its original name in 1977 was the Mayor Daley Marathon.
• The first marathon in Chicago was in 1905, starting from Evanston, with 20 registered runners. Only 15 actually started and 7 finished. 
• The Chicago Marathon is an open field and there is no qualifying time.
• The marathon draws lots of registrants because of the open field, and being fast and flat. 
• World records have been broken on the Chicago course four times. Paula Radcliffe set a world record on the course in 2002 at 2:17:18, which is still the women's course record. 
• This year Liliya Shobukhova of Russia is going for her uprecedented 4th consecutive win. 

I am honored to be part of this tradition and can't wait to for race day! That's it for now, I'm sure I'll have some last minute thoughts/nerves before the race.