Running Around Illinois: Brookfield Zoo

September 11, 2022

Brookfield Zoo Zoo Run 5K & 1 Mile Fun Run

Brookfield (Cook County)

Chip Time: 27:35.8

The Zoo Run is traditionally a larger race with maybe 1,000 runners. It’s a slightly weird course because it winds around the paths of Brookfield Zoo, so there are a lot of slight curves, more than a couple hairpin turns, and rarely much of an extended straight shot. So even in a normal year it can be a little hard to compare to other races.

Alas, this was not a normal year, for the skies were weeping. We’ll get to the rain in more depth below, including where I have to cop to what I put my child through.

Here’s the walking map of the zoo:

The race begins and ends in the upper right, just below the big blue box that says ZOO. It winds it way through a lot of exhibit areas, part of the overall gimmick being that this is the only race where you might see an okapi hanging out, or where you are liable to wind up downwind of a lot of bison dung. You can get a sense from the map of what the overall course is like.

At this zoo, and probably most zoos at this point, there are two species which truly have the run of the joint: humans and geese. So it is inevitable that at some point during the race, you will encounter geese, and the geese will look at you like you’re the craziest damn things they’ve ever seen. (As you might imagine, the presence of many geese wandering all over the place also lends itself to a lot of goose poop all over the place. You might recall I’ve written more than once about goose poop.)

I use the MapMyRun race to record race times. The app uses GPS to determine distance, though the specifics of how that works I don’t claim to know. The Zoo Run typically comes in at less than 5K according to the app, and this is almost certainly because all of the turns, and always trying to take the inside on them, have the effect of shortening the overall distance. But you’re also turning, which is a little harder than just running in a straight line. I don’t know how that washes out.

Today, the rain added at least four additional weirdnesses. First, there were a few places on the course where there were huge puddles, so people were swerving around them. Second, related to the first, the swerving sometimes meant people were funneling into narrower paths, so there were some unexpected brief slow downs, especially in the first mile.

Third, because of the weather, I chose to do my warmup stretching at home, and didn’t arrive on site until pretty much right at race time. (We started 10 minutes late anyway, for no explained reason.) Because it was a larger race, runners were nominally grouped by pace, but when I arrived, that was all chaotic. I wound up around people who were not running at as fast a pace as I was, so that the first half mile especially there was a little dodging and waiting for space and so forth.

Fourth, and most obviously, it was raining, so we were all soaked, but also, I insist that when it’s raining, I can breathe better.

Probably because I started back a ways from the start line, my app recorded me being at the 1 mile mark before I hit the formal 1 mile mark. But then it recorded me hitting the 2 mile mark after I’d passed the formal 2 mile mark, and recorded me hitting the 3 mile mark just before actually finishing the race. So my splits are probably a little off, but also instructive to me as to how things went: 9:07 / 9:08 / 9:42. Compare this with last week in Herscher: 8:14 / 9:48 / 10:09.

I suspect that my slower first mile was the main factor in holding down a stronger second mile. I didn’t even break stride until after the 2 mile mark. But how much did the rain help my breathing? And how much did getting a new albuterol inhaler help? I’ve not been totally sold on whether the albuterol does anything, but I haven’t had one for a while, and I’ve been diagnosed in the past with exercise induced asthma, and this week I finally got a new one. So what made the difference? Maybe everything?

This year versus my previous showings in this race:

2022: 27:35.8

2021: 30:10.9

2019: 26:43.8

Last year, this was my first 5K since pre-pandemic. 2019, I was in better running shape coming in. But I felt pretty good on this race. I didn’t even mind being soaked…

After the run was over, I collected my Gatorade and banana and wandered off. Found a bathroom. Left the bathroom, figured I should maybe see if the family was around, as the kids’ 1 mile run was scheduled for 9:30. Because of the rain I told them not to come with for my race but to drive separately later.

I found them immediately, my wife in a poncho, my son getting rained on a bit. We found an overhang, bided some time before his race started.

It was about start time so I walked him over. It was raining a little more than when they’d arrived, but it wasn’t awful. I got out of the way as the race was about to start.

Two or three minutes in, it was outright pouring.

In part because the 5K started late, in part because the lighter joggers / walkers started toward the back, there were still people finishing the 5K when the first kids finished their mile. Unfortunately the chip time didn’t work for the kids so we’re not sure how fast his mile was, but you can see for yourself how wet it was:

A year or two ago, these conditions, I think he would have completely flipped out. This year though he seemed mostly fine! He has no immediate desire to go out and do it again, but I think he had a good time.

My wife did not have a good time. She has some pressing questions about when exactly she signed up for this bullshit.

I’m not sure when the next fun run will be, but I’m hoping to get at least one more 5K in this September. If the weather cooperates I’m targeting being back below 27:00 and hoping to push lower yet by the end of the year.