Featured 5k of the Week - The Quarryman Challenge

Our Featured 5k of the Week is a day late due to the “unofficial BeatleFest Recovery Day” (which should be a national holiday - just saying!). Anyhow, I just returned from my 17th annual Fest For Beatles Fans on Monday – which always requires a MINIMUM of a 24-hour recovery period.

Interestingly, the Fest gave me the idea for this week’s Featured 5k...The Quarryman Challenge. No, this isn’t named in honor of John and Paul’s first band, but rather the Quarrymen of the Lemont, Lockport, Joliet region.

This race offers a 5k and a 10-miler. But the 10-miler isn’t just 7 miles longer tha the 5k, it is WAY more challenging!!

The race takes place in Lemont, and for those who aren't familiar with Lemont - it can be hilly - quite hilly!

The 5k has a total elevation change of over 120 feet. From 615 to 738 feet and back to 615. The 10-miler, about the same from 615 to about 750 back to 615. But it's not the just the 120 foot elevation (which is about 12 stories total) - it's that the elevation changes tend to be sudden and steep!!! And they occur more than once and more than twice - more like a dozen times. There is a lot of up and down and up and down. The sight of an extended flat stretch is truly a dream come true!
The moniker of this race, printed on the shirts, is "Challenge Yourself". By far, my favorite race shirt to date!

I ran the 5k - so picture everything I say, but add 7 more miles and that in the 10-milers. The race starts on a nice flat downtown surface - but in less than 1/4 mile makes a 90 degree turn. You can't see the what's around the turn until you make the turn, due to the buildings. It is an immediate steep climb. Right about when runners get their stride - it's a steep and long uphill. It flattens out very briefly then goes up again. And it does this for a while before turning back. Then there is a small downhill. At this time, first-time runners, like myself, think "oh, good now the rest of the race is downhill". WRONG!!! There are still at least 3 or 4 more uphills - with a couple of down hills. Somewhere after a few plateaus and a few downhills (followed by uphills) comes the final descent. And descent is the right word for it. Remember the start of the race? Steep climb, brief plateau, steep climb? Well the descent is both of those steep climbs - without the plateau. At some point, I thought I was going to fall over forwards and roll-down the hill like some cartoon character picking up steam on the way and then crashing into unexplained bowling pins at the bottom.

So, at some point, the bottom is reached. But is it over - nope. There is still at least a 1/4 mile to go to the finish. It is flat - and as soon as the hill ends, runners can see the Finish Line banner taunting them.

By far, and still to date (not counting trail races), this was the most challenging AND most rewarding 5k I have participated in! The difficulty of it actually made me (and many runners) push even harder. That goal to conquer the hills - to "challenge yourself" takes over during that first 1/4 mile uphill - and that motivation does not leave - no matter how tired one might get. (I can't even imagine running the 10 miler - which is 7 more miles of this).

What a great event!!! And truly challenging - an excellent opportunity to learn how to run hills - or to hone hill-running skills. And definitely the best way to "challenge yourself".

I was exhausted upon completion - but the most satisfied I've ever been after a race.

This link here shows the courses and elevations :

http://www.quarrymanchallenge.com/course_map.php