The LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon culminated a weekend of family and fun here in Chicago. Rachel completed the 26.2 mile course that started in Grant Park, wound north to Addison, west to Ashland, south to 35th Street and finally returning to Grant Park in a personal best of 04:02:30. That time gave her a 9:14/mile pace. Also known as a blistering pace that would have killed a normal human being.

Prior to the race, Rachel’s parents came in Friday night to see David, Rachel’s brother, off before he left for Spain. He was meeting his girlfriend, Samantha, there for a week long vacation. The couple is planning on visiting Barcelona, Costa del Sol and Madrid. It sounds like a fantastic trip and I am quite jealous.

Saturday afternoon Rachel and I accompanied her parents to the Art Institute of Chicago where we checked out the Toulouse-Lautrec and Montmartre exhibition. The gallery contained works from the peak of Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec’s career, 1888 to 1896, and works of other artists of the period. The images and paintings encapsulate the life and times of the Paris hotspot of the day, Montmartre. This area was Paris’s societal home to the licit and illicit. It was a great exhibition and think anyone with the time should check it out. Chef recommends…

Saturday night was a carb-fueled bonanza at the amazing Italian eatery, Sapori Trattoria. With a rustic and easy-going atmosphere this quaint authentic Italian restaurant met my expectations and far exceeded them. All of us got our fare share of good eats and enjoyable ambiance. The pasta was just the ticket to fuel Rachel’s long run through out Chicago.

Well fed and well rested, Rachel took to the streets Sunday morning and truly dominated. Rachel’s parents and I staked out some prime real estate in front of Treasure Island, a grocery store on Broadway along the race route. After seeing her briefly, I left the Steinkeler’s and flew around town parallelling the race route on my bike trying to catch up with Rachel. I finally caught up with her at the finish line where she was exhausted and ready to call it a day. She did a great job and we’re all very PROUD of her! Congratulations Rachel!

This entry was posted on Monday, October 10th, 2005 at 2:34 pm and is filed under Entertainment, Personal. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.