2020: Racing Through a Pandemic

Disclaimer: As an ambassador for All Community Events, I received free race entries.

When 2020 started, I declared that I had goals, but I was 'keeping them close to the vest'. What was I thinking about for the upcoming year? I really was excited for a trail race in the Everglades in March. Whomp whomp. COVID and my son's snowboarding accident put a kibosh on those plans. 

I also shared my spring race plans, which included a race on the ice in Madison, a race at the Chicago Auto Show, the Shamrock Shuffle, the CARA Lakefront 10 miler, and the Chicagoland Spring Half Marathon. Whomp, whomp again. I only ran one of these, although I did receive the medal for that 10 miler in the mail. Thanks to the Chicago lakefront path being shut down for half of the year, I never truly earned it, although I ran plenty of 10 mile runs this year. Does one of them count? Can I hang that medal on my medal rack?

Everything changed this year, didn't it?

With pretty much everything canceled, I fell in love with trail running, did a 12 week virtual challenge, ran a few virtual halfs, and yes, eventually ran a few live races. This was definitely not the year any of us had planned for. But we runners pushed on. I kept seeing the words "running is not canceled" and nope, it wasn't. Running took us outside where we could socially distance and breathe freely. Running made us grateful for what we could do. COVID couldn't take running away from us.

This isn't my typical end of the year race recap. Compiling this list was a bit of a challenge. Some of the races I ran had bling, some didn't, a few races were live, but most weren't. As an ambassador for ACE and CARA, I ran quite a few virtual 5ks and 10ks, which I didn't include in this recap. I also ran a distance challenge, which helped me push my monthly miles up during the 2 months while I did it.  While I'm grateful for all the efforts race directors made to keep runners challenged, after this year, I hope to never run another virtual race again. 

Universal Soul Valentine's Trail Challenge

Instead of running that race on ice in Madison in February, I opted for this local trail race. Winter was warm and the ice was slush, so this was an easy decision. The trail race, a 4.6 miler, was held in one of the local forest preserves on a perfect 30 degree day. No bling for this race but I shared a delicious bowl of chili and a tasty beer with several of the other participants at the finish line.

This was some tasty bling!

CARA Honda Miles per Hour run

As a CARA ambassador, I was excited to be a part of this new race! The goal was to run as many miles as you could in an hour, all the while running around the Chicago Auto Show. It was definitely one of the more interesting things I've done as a runner. It was also very challenging. We did get a 'medal', but for me, the reward was getting to see all the cars in the auto show before the crowds!

Home Half Marathon

Seriously, the last thing I wanted to do was a virtual long distance race. However, when I saw the Home Half Marathon, I signed up for it because you had to run it on April 25. It felt more 'real' that way. Does that make sense? Plus, I had all that training from preparing for the Everglades race that I didn't get to run. My husband and escaped to the lake and I ran it up there. Not only did it feel good to run that distance, but it was also nice to get away.

This was my favorite medal this year.
It's symbolic of a very difficult year.

COVID 19 Mile Social Distance Challenge

After having to DNF my Everglades Trail Race, I signed up for this crazy distance, hoping to put to use some of my training. I ran it as a series of loops around my neighborhood. Yes, I stopped at home every 4.5 miles to fuel and use the bathroom, just like an ultra, right? This was the longest distance I'd run since my last marathon in 2016. No bling but finishing was definitely winning! Run or die? Take that, 'rona!

The Uncanceled Project

By late spring, a lot of distance challenges popped up. They were all so tempting! I liked this weekly challenge--every week for 12 weeks, I did a trail 10k. Having to complete my run every week kept me accountable. Each week had a theme, which also made the runs meaningful. I'm grateful to Adam Goucher and Tim Catalano, from Run the Edge, for this challenge. 

Naperville Trails Half Marathon

Last year, I had to DNS this one due to health issues. This year, I was healthy and ready to run, but the race was virtual. Fortunately, there was the option to run the race on the actual course, using an app to guide me. In spite of the perfect conditions on what would have been the actual race day, I really struggled with this run. I have no idea why. I had a personal worst for the distance. Maybe this just isn't my race.

Prairie State Half Marathon

Finally! A real, live race! While there were plenty of restrictions on the runners--masking in the socially distant corral and assigned start times, it sure felt good to run an actual race. The course was boring, there were some hills, and I had a great race, redeeming myself from my disastrous race in Naperville. There was good beer at the finish line too.

CARA Autumn Trail Chase 5k

Another live race? This was a fun 5k held in a preserve about 45 minutes from my house. The weather was perfect. Like the race I ran a few weeks before, runners were required to mask in the corrals and were assigned start times. For some odd reason, I was placed in the back of the last corral, so I had the experience of passing a lot of runners. I kind of enjoyed that!

No bling but yes to the sticker!
Could this be a thing?

Schaumburg Turkey Trot Half Marathon

This is the race I run every year, so even though this year it was a virtual event, there was no way I wasn't going to run it. I ran it on the actual race day, in perfect weather conditions, at the preserve where the race is always held. I couldn't run the actual course because it's point to point, but I think I covered the whole course. I felt great and completely enjoyed myself. 

After running Schaumburg, my last virtual half of the year, I have to admit to being glad to be done with virtual races. I won't be doing any virtual holiday races. It's been an interesting experience, running all these virtual races. I was happy to take bling for the half marathons I ran, but my results will always have an asterisk next to them. I ran all my virtual races as close to a real event as possible with the exception that I stopped my watch for photos. If you have an issue with that, I don't know what to say except that this year, the rules were different. The results of the virtual races I ran don't count for anything official. As one fellow blogger said about her virtual race: 'my race, my way'.

Even the live races were different than in the past. I do have a few events on the calendar for 2021--but will they happen? Will races go back to the way they were, or will we be doing things differently? It's going to be interesting. 

No matter what happened this year, happily, running was not canceled.

How was your year of running? Did you get to do any live races? Did you do any virtual races? Any virtual distance challenges? What are you most looking forward to in 2021?

I'm linking up with Kim and Zenaida for Tuesday Topics and with the Runners' Roundup: Debbie, Deborah, Jen, Laura, and Lisa.