While going through Chicago on my recent bike ride across America. I volunteered with my team at Gilda’s Club Chicago, a cancer care community. While handing out advertisements for the center, we were told that Team Gilda had extra tickets for the 2019 Chicago Marathon. I was up for the challenge, so I agreed to raise the money and signed up!

I trained in Boston while working full time for 2 months (coming off my bike trip) to get my running endurance up. While I definitely do not consider myself to be an endurance runner, I did find myself enjoying the longer runs with gorgeous views of the city such as this:

Morning of

I flew out to Chicago that weekend with my girlfriend and my parents, and prepped myself for the longest I have (and possibly will ever) run. It was a chilly morning, but thankfully I was equipped with my secret uniform to keep me warm in those holding cells.

I listened to Kanye West’s Yeezus five times for hype motivation and a podcast on the Chicago Black Sox scandal for endurance. I also got to see many local neighborhoods come out and support the runners, and definitely enjoyed the cheering from the humongous crowds.

I logged my route on Strava too!