Race Recap: Rudolph Ramble 8k

Who would have thought that you could wear shorts and a tank top to run a holiday race in Chicago in December?!?  Thank you global warming.  Sunday I ran the Rudolph Ramble 8k, put on by Fleet Feet.  It was a rainy, humid 60 degrees day, and created the exact conditions you would have expected for a course that was half held on dirt path.

Mud.

Pre-race. Notice how clean my leg are? That didn't last...
Before the Rudolph Ramble.. Notice how clean my leg are? That didn’t last…

 

So instead of wearing my fabulously ugly Christmas sweater, complete with a picture of Rudolph- it would have been perfect instead I wore shorts and a singlet.  I met up with some of the Boston girls at the Fleet Feet gear check tent before heading to the start.   Before the race I saw volunteers trying to sweep away some of the water from the course, but it was a losing battle.  Just embrace the mud!

 

The gun went off and we headed north along the path for about half a mile after Belmont.  There we turned and looped back south the way we came, turning through the Barry Ave. tunnel to stay on the inner drive, and thus proceed to get as muddy as we could.  We ran all the way past the North Ave. bridge before following the curve in the path to the paved portion to finish up back north just after Fullerton.  I finished with a time of 32:45, pretty sure it’s a PR since the last 8k race I ran was 6 (?) years ago.

 

At the finish line there were donuts and cider for the participants, as well as an opportunity to take a picture with Santa.  I KNOW HIM!

 

 

FullSizeRender

 

 

I was surprised to see that I finished 5th female overall and top 3 in my age group!  Got a cookie spice mix and reindeer shaped cookie cutter in the mail as a prize.  Looks like I’ll be making some vegan cookies this weekend!

 

Prize

Other details about the run:  The giveaway was a beanie, you could either choose red or blue. I appreciated the opportunity to choose (I went with red).  The packet pickup was really simple; all you had to do was go to a Fleet Feet store, give your name, and boom done.  There was a chorus singing at the start and along the course, although their Christmas carols seemed a bit out-of-place with the heat!

 

Overall, I’d recommend the Rudolph Ramble as a fun way to spend a Sunday morning.  It’s an easy 8k that you can do with friends and run to have fun. But, while the race was great, the best part was going out for a boozy brunch with the group afterwards 🙂

 

Brunch
In the ugly sweaters we had planned on wearing during the race

 

Happy running,

Becca

 

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