Waweru, Ring Win Soldier Field 10

First off, I salute Fleet Feet Sports and its volunteers for a superb Soldier Field 10 Mile on Saturday. This race was well-organized and done with precision and patriotism. As a Vietnam-era veteran (I was not in combat), it was great to take some time for a Memorial Day weekend salute to members of the military, past and present, before we began our run. The race itself was run in great temperatures but high humidity. Still, for the most part, people were running good times, even PRs in a lot of cases.
There was no four-peat for Jeff Jonaitis. Moses Waweru, 33, of Sun Prairie, WI, came down to the Windy City and won in an excellent time of 49:41. He had to go that fast to beat runner-up Jordan Horwitz, 24, of Evanston, who came in at 49:59. Charles Gillespie, 23, of Wilmette, was third in 50:29; big-race regular Chad Ware, 26, of Deerfield, last year's CARA Male Runner of the Year, was fourth in 50:51; and Matt Flaherty, 25, of Chicago, was fifth in 51:54. Jonaitis, 30, of Tinley Park, winner of this race the previous three years, was 10th this time in a good time of 53:26.
In the women's race, Shannon Ring, 28, of Belvidere, won in 59:24. She told me after the race that she held 5:58 pace through seven miles and then picked it up lowering her average per mile by a second. Second went to Jean Marinangeli, 27, of Schaumbug, still running great a season after earning honors as CARA's Female Runner of the Year. She ran a 1:02:01. Pamela Staton, 24, of Chicago, took third in 1:02:20, masters marathoner Ann Schaefers-Coles, 46, of Cary, continued to show her comeback is for real as she grabbed fourth in 1:03:28, and Jill Czarnick, 22, of Chicago, another local powerhouse, placed fifth in 1:03:39. If you look below, you can see that runners 6-10 on both sides werealso very strong. Meanwhile, for the rest of us, it was a fun morning no matter what. For me personally, things were going great for about 3.9 miles. Then my right calf seized up and in a rare occurrence, I was forced to pull out and walk. I made the best of it and watched much of the race as I walked back to Soldier Field. Congrats to all who ran, walked and volunteered. Here are the full lists of the top 10 men and women
MEN
1 MOSES WAWERU 14745 33 M3034 SUN PRAIRIE WI 49:41 4:58
2 JORDAN HORWITZ 3420 24 M2024 EVANSTON IL 49:59 5:00
3 CHAS GILLESPIE 26 23 M2024 WILMETTE IL 50:29 5:03
4 CHAD WARE 2 26 M2529 DEERFIELD IL 50:51 5:06
5 MATT FLAHERTY 25 25 M2529 CHICAGO IL 51:54 5:12
6 JAMES AKITA 7 30 M3034 ELMHURST IL 52:07 5:13
7 JACEK KAFEL 36 35 M3539 RIVER FOREST IL 52:33 5:16
8 MATT BLUME 22 29 M2529 CHICAGO IL 52:35 5:16
9 JOSH YELSEY 4191 28 M2529 CHICAGO IL 53:01 5:19
10 JEFF JONAITIS 1 30 M3034 TINLEY PARK IL 53:26 5:21

WOMEN

1 SHANNON RING 28 F2529 BELVIDERE IL 59:24 5:57
2 JEAN MARINANGELI 27 F2529 SCHAUMBURG IL 1:02:01 6:13
3 PAMELA STATON 24 F2024 CHICAGO IL 1:02:20 6:14
4 ANN SCHAEFERS-COLES 46 F4549 CARY IL 1:03:28 6:21
5 JILL CZARNIK 22 F2024 CHICAGO IL 1:03:39 6:22
6 SANYA SYRSTAD 45 F4549 GLEN ELLYN IL 1:03:50 6:23
7 SHANNON JAVARAS 36 F3539 PALOS PARK IL 1:04:02 6:25
8 HEATHER SWINK 38 F3539 CHICAGO IL 1:04:13 6:26
9 PATRICIA LOUGHLIN 24 F2024 CHICAGO IL 1:04:35 6:28
10 LAUREN OSBORNE 27 F2529 SAINT PAUL MN 1:04:57 6:30