Rain keeps runners cool at Fox Valley Marathon Races
Runners crossed the finish line for the Advocate Dreyer Fox Valley Marathon Races Sunday in St. Charles showing varied emotions: joy, disbelief, anger, fatigue.
Some were joined by their children for the last straightaway, others held hands with race partners. All of them were wet, kept cool by a misty rain that fell for most of the race.
And though spectators huddled under colorful umbrellas, shivering along the race route, runner Daniel Montgomery, of Wheaton, said the weather wasn’t so bad.
“It was a pretty perfect day for the run,” Montgomery said.
Montgomery was the first to cross the finish line for the half marathon, a training checkpoint for a November marathon he plans to run in Indianapolis.
Christine Smith, one of about 1,000 volunteers on race day, said that sort of training regimen was not unusual. Participants had their pick of a half marathon, a 20-miler or a full marathon. A Weather Flex option allowed runners who signed up to choose on race day which of the courses to run, depending on weather and how their training turned out. If the day didn’t seem in their favor, they could use the 20-mile run as a warm up for a full marathon later in the season.
Smith said many who ran the 20-mile event were queuing up for the Chicago Marathon in three weeks.
That’s a plan three friends — Karla Vera and Robin Shine, of Crystal Lake, and Nancy Loessl, of Cary — expect to carry out next year.
The trio ran the half marathon Sunday, but already are looking forward to return to the Tri-Cities next year for the 20-mile race. All three had only good things to say about the Fox Valley event.
“There was tons of runner support and a lovely route,” Shine said.
High school students joined runners’ friends and families to cheer from various points in the race, which started in St. Charles and continued through Geneva, Batavia and North Aurora before turning around in Aurora and finishing near the starting line.
About 2,200 people signed up for the race, doubling last year’s registration. In the end it was closer to 1,550 who showed up, but organizers were still pleased with the growth.
Shannon Bixler, of St. Charles, was the first woman marathoner to cross the finish line. Her dad, Craig Bixler, is a co-founder of the Fox Valley race. After years away from home, she said she was glad to be back running in a place where friendly faces could cheer her on.
“You really couldn’t ask for a better course,” Bixler said.