The Shamrock Shuffle, my first race of the season, completed! It wasn’t the prettiest of them all, and not going to lie, it wasn’t exactly warm, but it’s over and we’re moving on. Overall, there’s just SO many people that sign up for this one, probably because this year’s was moved to April.

The crowd:

• Shamrock Shuffle Chicago’s crowd was actually NOT too bad this year. Yes, there were supposedly over 25,000 people, but it’s well managed and as long as you arrive early enough, and get placed in the A or B corral, it actually wasn’t too bad.

The course:

• The Shamrock Shuffle 2016 course, followed last year’s to a T, and it was great. It’s long winding paths, not too many turns or hills, most runs in Chicago end on that god-awful hill, this one wasn’t SO bad, so no complaints.

The weather:

• Freezing, but no breeze, makes all the difference. It was a crisp 30 degrees when we started running, so during the run, two layers of clothing was perfect, before and after, tad chilly. The sunshine and breeze died down, so can’t really complain.

Results:

Beat last year’s pace by 10 seconds… nothing crazy but it’s an improvement!

What’s next? The Ravenswood 5k. Will I see you there?