Fort2Base Nautical 10 Miler Race Report
I first heard about the Fort2Base Nautical 10 Miler in an email newsletter I got in the winter. I thought it sounded super cool for two reasons – the unique distance (it’s actually 11.5 miles) and that it was on the ten year anniversary of 9/11 with a military foc2us. I put it in my calendar as a “maybe.”
I didn’t register right away though. I wanted to make sure it fit in to my training schedule. And with it being three weeks out from the marathon, it kind of didn’t – that’s the same weekend (typically) of your longest marathon run, and I knew there was no way that I would run 10.5 miles after the race. And doing it before didn’t sound too appealing (although I humored it for a bit with Bobbi, who did do just that for her last long run).
Anyway, I was really on the fence about the whole race, but then this schweet Schwaggle deal came out to do the race for $32! I bought it and figured even if I didn’t decide to do the race, that wouldn’t be too much of a loss. Especially with the schweet shirt we got:
Okay, enough babbling about that. You guys know I ran 22 on Saturday and did this race as a recovery run with Bobbi. The interesting thing is that I (being so smart, you know) didn’t realize this was a point-to-point race (from Fort Sheridan to the Great Lakes Naval Base, hence Fort to Base) until a few weeks before. That just meant the logistics were a bit tricky. You had to drive to the base then get on a bus to the fort (no parking at the fort). The problem is that I got to the base almost an hour before (5:30 am) the last bus (6:30 am) but just sat in traffic. There were so many people trying to get to the base, and they had to check everyone’s identification, and the streets weren’t really made to accommodate that much traffic either! Needless to say, I got on the bus at 6:35, and we got to the race at 7:00 or so (it was supposed to start at 7:00!). The bus driver didn’t know where to drop us off, so we walked to the start line… from the course side! There was a moment of silence and singing of the National Anthem, but no 9/11 speech or anything. I was kind of surprised and wonder if I missed it. Anyway, I got in a porta pottie line and the race started around 7:30, before I got in the bathroom. It was chip-timed, so I didn’t care. I wonder if any people didn’t make it to the fort for the start. I know one girl on our bus thought packet pickup was at the fort but it was actually at the base, so she got there with no bib. Oops.
I wasn’t upset about all of that (traffic, being late), but I bet a few people were. I was just there for fun, and to honor the day!
I ran the entire race with Bobbi, who had run around 10.4 miles prior to the race. I knew she wouldn’t have fresh legs and I was just looking for a recovery run so it worked out perfectly!
We ran in Fort Sheridan, then got on the Robert McClory Bike Path. It wasn’t crowded, because we started back so far!
I did my normal walk every two miles, but had to stop for a bathroom break at mile 7 and that added about 7 minutes on. Ha ha. I also ended up taking 3 GUs instead of the 2 I had planned – thanks for the last one, Bobbi!
The run was nice and easy. Mostly shaded, and some in the sun (it was in the 70s but humid). Once we got to the Naval Base, we still had about three miles to go. It was fun to run all around the base and see all the different parts of it, even though there was a huge hill in the last mile! I think they call it Cardiac Hill and there was a bunch of military people at the bottom cheering us on. In fact, there were military people all over the course being supportive. It was great!
Bobbi struggled a bit in the last four miles, but duh, it was the last four miles of a 22 mile run for her (and her feet/toes were bugging her). I tried to pep her up by playing music, and when she would stop to walk I would run back to her (so I ran a bit over 11.5, but I think the course was accurate).
Both of our husbands greeted us at the finish, and one of Bobbi’s daughters ran in with us! My overall time was 2:25:01, for a 12:18 average pace. I think the bathroom stop added on some time, ha ha. The garmin said our average moving pace was 11:44.
This was a great run and I had a ton of fun running with Bobbi. It was great to see her, because I hadn’t in about a month! The medals were great (although people who finished the Nautical 10 before us also got a Nautical 3 medal with a chain, for some reason), and I love the race shirt too! There were tons of booths and entertainment afterward. They even had some of those bounce house and obstacle course things for the kids.
The only iffy part was getting to the base at the beginning. Bobbi’s husband dropped her off at the fort – maybe that is the way to go. Also, Steven drove the Datsun to see me and got crap from people twice about coming to spectate. The first time they asked him why he was there. He responded “To spectate at the Fort2Base race.” They asked why. He responded “Because my wife is running it.” I know they need to be secure, but it was kind of weird. I was with him the second time he got crap (he was trying to take me to my car) and the person was not very nice. Oh well.
A few people from my club ran as well and some even placed in their age groups! I am so out of touch with the club right now. This race was a huge reminder of that, but I’ll talk about that another day.
I was worried that I would get all choked up during this run, with it being the 10-year anniversary of 9/11, but really, I just felt excited and honored to get to do this run, and be around some of our military men and women. A huge thank you to them!
Themocracy
I love the medal! <3
Okay, first, so crazy that you are this the day after a long run. Holy cow – that’s crazy awesome. I am pretty much still bedridden after a long run like that. Second, I like that you did a race report for this – I didn’t know about this race until this morning when I saw it on the news, and was bummed I didn’t know earlier. Hopefully they do it again next year because it sounds cool!!
You should totally do it! It was a great race, and I am sure they will work out the parking congestion thing next year!
Are you a north shore runner? 🙂
I did get a bit emotional in the opening speeches – I’m sorry that you had to miss that part. Actually the worst was the national anthem (always gets me, and only since 9/11).
What a fabulous day! So so glad I got to spend it with you 🙂
Nice masthead!!! 🙂
So did they delay the start of the race so that the rest of the shuttles could get there on time?
Sounds like it was a nice recovery run! Do you think you would do this race again if they have it next year?
I think that is why they delayed the start (I think it was 25-30 minutes late?)… and I hope there was communication between the buses and race directors, but who knows, since our bus driver didn’t even know where to go!
I think I would like to do it again, especially to run it fast. But I’d have to sign up early before the price goes way up (I think the final cost after early registration was over was in the 70s).
I wish I had been in better shape to do this run; it looks like a fun one! Nice recovery run and what a great morning for it!
My race did extra stuff to honor 9/11. We had temporary tattoos with 9.11 and the race name to wear during the race (I accidentally put mine on upsidedown but I also applied it at 5:30am so no judging. haha). They also handed out little American flags to run across the finish line with. It was really cool. They had a moment of silence at the start of the race and had someone sing the national anthem. They also may have had a speech but the sound on the speakers kept going in and out so it was difficult to hear what was being said.
Also, go check out my outfit for my half marathon! We were twinsies!
I think I was on the same bus! I’ve heard that sometimes the biggest challenge is getting to the start line … although usually that applies to the runner’s motivation. Not traffic back-ups and a lost bus driver. It was still a great race though!
Congrats on all that mileage! I only did the race and I’m all tuckered out.
I was down the road when I heard the anthem so I missed any speeches totally. Rushing way too much to get choked up!
Darn I wish you got a chain at least. It was sort of weird when they handed us the medal by itself. But overall an awesome race!
We asked for chains and they would not give them to us since they were for the 3-milers. I think it’s really weird they have so many of the 10-milers the 3-mile dog tag!
You are a running machine!!! Looks like a great race – logistical issues aside. And I *love* the race shirt!!! I’m a sucker for awesome goodie bags and race gear!