Today was the 25th anniversary of Big Shoulders and the National Championship 5K swim. Or was supposed to be. The weather pattern which ruined the Evanston swim several weeks ago threatened Big Shoulders from the beginning. There have been dire forecasts of large waves, rain, cold air and maybe water, and possibly even water spouts (small tornados on the lake) all week. All the organizers could do, according to them at least, was hope the forecasts were wrong. The water temp may have held out, I didn't get a chance to measure, and it did not seem that the waves inside the enclosed swim area were any worse than some other Big Shoulders. But the rains came in force. Possibly partly due to the much higher lake levels this year, and possibly partly that the NNE wind aimed directly at the beach, the beach was flooded. Their electronics, chips etc, would have been useless. So the swim was cancelled. Although the rest of the Chicago area was bright and sunny, really a very nice fall day, it seemed according to radar, that the lakefront would have rain all day so postponing an hour maybe wouldn't have helped.
I would have been the oldest in my age group and would have been an unlikely National Champ. I'm not sure 5K is my race anymore. So I'm not that disappointed. I did grab a nice towel and shirt, at retail prices almost my cost of the race. Thanks to an unanticipated construction traffic jam on the expressway exit and a malfunctioning gate at Navy pier I ended up not parking there saving $20. A stop at Starbucks for some coffee on the way home so, as they say in Chicago, wait till next year.
Postscript: The official explanation was that the lifeguards bailed. Then, of course, it had to be cancelled. It's ts a Good thing too. Aparently this water spout was spotted, and photographed nearby Ohio St around 10 o'clock when I was still in the water. All of us out there would have shit our pants and that wouldn't be fun to swim through.
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