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Title:
Chicago Lakefront Ultras - Spring Edition 2023
Date:
Tuesday March 28th, 2023
Author:
Jeffrey Fleitz and Bill Thom
Report:
2023 Spring Edition Chicago Lakefront Ultras
24th Annual Chicago Lakefront 50k, 1/2 Marathon, and Buildup Run - George Cheung Memorial Race!
Official statistics for 2023 Chicago Lakefront Ultras - George Cheung Memorial Race...
Weather Statistics
Time:
Temp
°F
Humidity
%
Wind Chill
°F
Wind
MPH
Exposure
7:00 am:
36
95
27
N 10
Mostly Coudy
8:00 am:
36
97
27
NE 12
Mostly Cloudy
9:00 am:
36
94
27
N 11
Mostly Cloudy
10:00 am:
34
93
23
N 15
Mostly Cloudy
11:00 am:
34
91
23
NW 16
Overcast
12:00 pm:
34
88
23
NW 15
Overcast
1:00 pm:
34
81
23
W 19
Overcast
2:00 pm:
36
76
23
W 21
Overcast
3:00 pm:
37
69
27
W 19
Overcast
4:00 pm:
37
63
27
W 19
Overcast
5:00 pm:
39
52
30
W 17
Sunny
The 24th annual spring edition of the Chicago Lakefront Ultras was back on the South Side again, but we had to move to the east side of Lake Shore Drive to the 63rd Street Beach House due to the large construction project for the Obama Presidential Center. It felt very retro...the Chicago Lakefront Ultras location was at the 63rd Street Beach House for many years before moving across the street to Jackson Park Grove 19A/B.
As of race morning we were expecting 144 runners to toe the line, but the winter weather advisory Friday night and awful weather forecast for race day put a curve ball into some people's plans. This resulted in 99 runners showing up. Luckily the forecast was worse than reality - virtually no rain during the races, the winds were not nearly as bad as predicted, and the snow in the later morning was just some fun, pleasant flurries that didn't stick to the ground. Then when the last runner came through around 4:30pm, the sun poked through and the rest of the day was amazing! A small group of about 7 runners took off in the early start group at 7:30am, two others opted to start at 7:51am, while the remaining 50K runners started at 8:30am and the 1/2 Marathon and Buildup Run started at 9:00am. Pretty much everyone who started was determined to finish as we had 94 finishers for all of the runs combined.
The 50K race won by Carson Gill who ran a PR and finished well ahead of the rest of the pack in 3:29:59. But then the runners started finishing much closer together with David Carta finishing in 3:52:45, First Female Rachel Burke in 3:58:55, and Arturo Neri rounding out the overall male podium in 4:04:54. The remaining female overall podium included Taylor Barnhill finishing 4:28:36 and Emma Aldrich in 4:34:59.
The 1/2 Marathon race saw a very tight finish with Charlie Zega finishing in 1:37:57 and Mark Sauser immediately on his heels in 1:38:08. Similar to the 50K race, the third overall finisher was a female, with Laila Geht taking the First Female award in 1:42:18. The Overall Top-3 Male podium spot was taken by Gaston Illanes in 1:42:30 just seconds behind Laila. The remaining Overall Top-3 Female podium was filled by Katie Ujimori in 1:59:06 and Miriam Schaewe in 2:05:41.
The Buildup Run was not intended to be a competative race. I'm sure all the participants would agree this was as much fun as a "fun" run can be. We hope that the run gave you the opportunity to get some good quality miles under your belt and best of luck with your upcoming races.
We also want to recognize a few runners who thought nothing of running an ultra frigid Paleozoic 50-Km just seven days earlier, then came out to finish this version of Chicago Lakefront Ultras 50K. Earning their highly coveted "Back-to-Back Weekend Ultra Achiever" pint-glass awards: Eric Salinas, Jodi Haefner, Edna Jackeline Vazquez, Oscar Delgado, Morlie Wang. Honorary mention, for finishing a springtime event distance in both Paleozoic Trail Runs and Chicago Lakefront Ultras: Faith Whitfield, Andy Thomson, Susan Jun.
The 50K Overall Top Male Carson Gill, and Overall Top Female Rachel Burke earned etched crystal column awards. 10-year top-three age group winners earned etched Chicago Lakefront Ultras "made the podium" pint glasses. About 20% of our runners were First Time Ultra Finishers earning "I Survived My First Ultra" pint glasses.
In the 1/2 Marathon race, the Overall Top-3 Male and Top-3 Female finishers earned etched pint glass awards. Those went to Charlie Zega, Mark Sauser, and Gaston Illanes for the men and Laila Geht, Katie Ujimori, and Miriam Schaewe for the women.
Let's give a huge shout out and thanks to the ultra running community of volunteers who generously staffed the aid stations and start/finish line activities...
* Burnham Park - Flatlander Ultrarunners:
Jimmy Jones (Captain), Jen Birkner, and Dave Secord. Special thanks to Jimmy and Jen for arriving early at 7:30am to setup the aid station, and for bringing the ramen and broth to warm up the runners. Anyone who is interested in joining the Flatlanders Facebook group, go check out the "Flatlander Ultrarunners in Chicagoland" group and join up!
* Start/Finish Area at Jackson Park, 63rd Street Beach House:
Marc Anguiano (Captain and Volunteer Coordinator) - Marc has participated in the Chicago Lakefront Ultras as a runner and a volunteer a number of times. This time he helped coordinate the volunteers, arrived early and stayed late to make sure everything was running smoothly.
Ken Dembek - Ken has volunteered for the Chicago Lakefront Ultras several times now. He also arrived early and stayed late, helping with setup, tear down, and keeping everyone fueled up by manning the aid station.
Justin Heller - Justin is a familiar face at the Chicago Lakefront Ultras and Paleozoic races. He kept the aid station well supplied after arriving early and staying late to setup and teardown.
Carl Shook - Carl is a veteran runner of Bill and Michelle Thom's races having run quite a few of them over the years and has also helped out a previous Chicago Lakefront Ultras. He arrived early to help with setup, manned the aid station, and took lots of the pictures that are posted in the gallery.
Chris Ragni - Chris has quite the ultrarunning resume starting with the 2014 Chicago Lakefront Ultra 50/50 being his first 50 miler. You will see him out at the Kettle Moraine 100 miler in June to tackle another 100 miler to pad his resume further. Chris helped with early morning setup and packet pickup as well as manning the aid station, then filling in later on for finisher scoring handing out the medals and awards.
Lauren Guezuraga - Lauren did a fantastic job as a first time volunteer for us starting with packet pickup first thing in the morning and then keeping track of the finish line handing out medals and awards.
Timing, webcasting, and finish-line scoring managed by us, through our RunRace website at RunRace. Check out Results and our Webcast through the links...
Results:
Chicago Lakefront Ultras Results on RunRace
Webcast:
Chicago Lakefront Ultras Webcast with Checkpoint Splits
Check out our gallery of photos below, captured mostly at the start/finish area. These pics have been optimized for internet display... feel free to copy for your personal use -and/or- link this "Run Report" with your social networks.
Thanks to all who participated in this 24th Annual Spring Version of the Chicago Lakefront Ultras - George Cheung Memorial Race. Why is the race in honor of George Cheung? Checkout the ChicagoUltra.org website for a quick summary about the race founder. I strongly encourage everyone to take a moment to learn about George Cheung - https://chicagoultra.org/race%20info/george_cheung.htm
Please consider joining us this fall for the 50/50 on October 28, 2023 (
registration is already open!
).
Website:
www.ChicagoUltra.org
Go there
or
Go there in new browser
Additional website reference address.
Click a thumbnail for its larger image.
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Visitor Feedback & Commentary:
Comments
Visitor
Posted
Last Update
Thank you for doing this. Very well-organized event and fun despite the crappy weather.
Paul Mollica
Mar 30, 2023
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Posted:
March 28th, 2023 12:23 pm
Last Update:
April 1st, 2024 6:02 pm
Viewed:
15474
Last View:
April 18th, 2024 6:29 pm
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