Rizzo, Moody Rule Humid Rock 'N Roll Half

I'm betting it was way more humid on Sunday than it usually is in Colorado where Illinois natives Patrick Rizzo and Tera Moody do their training. Neither set a PR at the Rock 'N Roll Chicago Half Marathon, but both had enough in their tanks to win this huge mid-summer race. As was the pattern for just about everyone, splits were faster early, even for the elites. Rizzo won in 1:06:19, a 5:04 pace, but went through the first 5K at 4:58 pace before settling down. Moody's pattern was similar. She was at 5:31 pace through the 5K and finished in 1:13:36 (5:37 pace). On the men's side, second place went to Daniel Jackson of Michigan in 1:07:12, and third went to Justin Grunewald of Minnesota in 1:07:52. Runner-up woman was Flora Docherty of Colorado in 1:14:45, and third was taken by Jessica Graf of Michigan in 1:19:36. As of now, there were 18,555 finishers, including Today Show weatherman Al Roker. As for the rest of us, it was deceptively tough. The temperature was tolerable, but the humidity was high. You had to moderate your pace or pay the price.