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15,000 runners, one cool Jett
from: suntimes.com
by Susanna Homan
On Tuesday night, nearly 15,000 people in Grant Park sweated to the beats of JOAN JETT AND THE BLACKHEARTS, the Donnas, Fountains of Wayne, Chingy, Nina Sky and DJ Z-Trip.
They weren't dancing -- they were running in the second Nike Run Hit Wonder race, an event that blends live music with long-distance running. Along the race route, the bands played on six stages and kept the runners' legs pumping.
Olympic gold medalist and World Cup champion Mia Hamm kicked off the first race, a 10K, at 8 p.m. "I will not be at the front," the soccer superstar warned the cheering crowd. "I'm retired." Hamm and her husband, Chicago Cubs shortstop Nomar Garciaparra, moved to Chicago at the end of last season, she says. "My husband and I feel so welcome."
"The Apprentice" winner Bill Rancic ran in the 5K race with a group of 20 children from the Mercy Home for Boys & Girls. "Nike asked me to help with the race, and I negotiated that all the kids got new shoes for the first day of school," he says. Rancic became a volunteer tutor for the residential home for troubled children five years prior to winning the prize of becoming Donald Trump's "Apprentice" in 2004.
Chicago Bears linebacker Brian Urlacher came to present awards to the racers. A gym-shoe collector, he says, "I'll bet I have 250 pairs. I can't throw any away because as a kid we got one pair a year. Now I order 20 pairs at a time."
He adds that a winning Bears season is in the works. "People are counting us out already. I like being the underdog. We're going to have a great year. We're going to stay healthy and hopefully win a bunch of games."
After both races were complete, Jett and her band performed for the crowd. "I run a little but I couldn't quite keep up with these people," says Jett, who stays toned by "doing a lot of pushups and staying busy."
Comparing the post-race show to the vibe of an all-day music festival, she says, "I definitely feel the energy."
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