Sideline Spectator

As you may know, I'm not running the Chicago Marathon this weekend as originally planned.

If you don't know, you can read all about it:

Why I'm Giving Up Chicago
Things I'll be training for other than the Chicago Marathon

Besides being out the $150 bones I dropped on the race entry fee, I'm also in a quandary the likes of which I'm rather foreign to: I have to figure out how to successfully spectate one of the largest marathons in the world.

Oh, and did I mention that I'll be carrying around a 26-week-old fetus? That should make watching a 4+ hour race all the more interesting.

Some things I plan on doing:

Wearing comfortable shoes, the Adidas so aptly named "Marathon"
Dressing in layers to effectively deal with the morning chill and the afternoon heat as forecasted
Setting up out meeting points along the course to connect with Kevin and our friends Matt, Kristen, Liz, and Kevin
~~Stalking~~ Waiting a mere two hours and change to catch a glimpse of elites like Ryan Hall and Moses Mosop as they cross the finish line

What I don't know how to do:

Find the best spectating locales because Chicago is one of them there Fancy Cities with lots of people and a whole bunch of big buildings (I live near Detroit where there's sadly not much to navigate)
Come up with a witty saying for my neon inspirational poster
Keep myself from sprinting out onto the course to join in the marathon mayhem

Although I've spent countless words lamenting the loss of my marathon entry this year, I'm rather excited to be on the sidelines for this one (and hopefully only) time.

I get to cheer on this guy...

as he runs his third full marathon! I'll be a proud wife this weekend.

And I'll get to high five all of these fine folks...

Matt

Kevin

Kristen

Liz

... as they all run their second or third marathons.

And I'll be immersed in the scents, sounds, and sights of 45,000 runners pounding through 26.2 miles of pain and glory, even though I won't be among them.

Like Lizzy said today, "running is who I am, and it will always be a part of my life even if it's not 365 days a year."

I'll be back on Monday with a full spectating recap and, if I'm lucky, a few paparazzi-style shots of those sweet elites. Ryan Hall's lucky I'm there just to take pictures of him this weekend instead of being his pace rabbit as we originally discussed. Ha.

What's one thing you love about watching a race?

Have any good spectating tips for a newbie like me?