Chicago / Boston Marathon Double race report, part 1: two flights, two expos, one day

The races have finally come and gone. It was a wonderful weekend, and while I didn't do as well as desired in Chicago and much better than expected in Boston, let me not get ahead of myself jumping to the results.

Logistics

The logistics that I had to maneuver through worked out beautifully. I flew to Boston early on Friday. Having checked a bag through to Chicago, I didn't need to worry about schlepping the heaviest bag, though I did have two carry-on size bags with me. I was tentative enough with how Security would deal with these bags. Getting the Silver Line for free is always nice. Pretty quick ride and easy connection to get down to the Finish Line area.

I arrived at the COVID vaccination proof tent by approximately 11am, right when the expo was set to open. Inside the tent there were PLENTY of tables, I was immediately seen at one of them, got my wristband, and exited. Then I mosied up the block to get to the Hynes Convention Center, where the expo was being held -- its traditional spot. I was appalled at what I saw once I got inside and picked up by bib and shirt. There was, effectively, NOTHING. This huge space, and precious few vendors were there. Even though I'm typically jaded with most expos (after all, this was going to be my 48th race), it's still nice to have all the vendors there and the bustling atmosphere. Well, Boston had *maybe* a total of 5 or 6 vendors there. All I can recall seeing apart from the Adidas store for race merchandise (where I made my traditional purchase of a ball cap) was the Sam Adams area, the Adidas Makers area (which meant nothing to me at the time), and the Abbott booth.

Well, the Abbott booth was the only one I was interested in seeing. This will be the first opportunity since I earned my 6-Star medal in London back in April 2019 that I was able to see my name on the Wall of Fame. Not that it's really visible in this photo.

Well, breezing through the expo in less than five minutes, I was off... back to Logan Airport to catch my "connecting" flight to Chicago. Made it in plenty of time, flew through TSA Pre-Check, and was able to sit in a nice comfy chair near the gate for the hour or so before boarding. For some reason, there was a godawful modem-like static type sound that was perpetually emanating from *something* in the area -- no idea what.

Simple flight later, and I pick up my checked bag (turns out it arrived on a flight before I did), make the very long hike to the Blue line station at the airport, buy a discounted 3-day pass for the CTA and head on out to my hostel to drop off all my bags before heading over to the expo. 

Upon check-in, I get my key and see it's room 312. There is no elevator (not available for the guests, anyway). That's right -- three full flights of stairs to walk up to get to my room. Sure, I could do that at the beginning of the weekend, but how will my legs and feet cooperate after I finish Sunday's marathon? Oy! Suck it up, buttercup -- you're not the only marathoner staying here.

Chicago's expo, while much smaller than it was my previous time (in 2016) and no speaker programs, it was quite respectable. And, in comparison to Boston, it was positively huge. First stop, the security check that had us also show our vaccination card in order to get our wristband. Now I've got two vaccination wristbands for the weekend and my Berlin 2018 security wristband on. I will certainly keep the Boston and Chicago wristbands on at least until the COVID hysteria dies down. But likely even longer than that, given that it's over 3 years I've been wearing the Berlin wristband. (Wow, that time has flown by.)

I quickly get my bib and shirt and make my way into the rest of the expo.

Of course, it's a rule (isn't it?) that you have to take a photo at Abbott's Wall of Fame the first time you are at an expo where your name is present, right? This time the Abbott volunteer did a better job with the photo, getting the full wall of names in.

Of course I wound up getting an amusing t-shirt that would wind up being ironically semi-prophetic: "Run. Walk. Crawl. Hail a Taxi." Too funny to not get.