I'm a little torn on this race. I enjoyed myself immensely, and the course was fast. The organization of the race was professional and the facilities of the University of Illinois were great pre- and post-race.

The irritation that I had was that there were a few spots in the course where runners had to run on a wide sidewalk and it forced a bit of a traffic jam that was annoying because it happened to come at a point in the race where I was cruising and had wanted to push pace a little bit.

Also, there were relatively few time clocks on the course, maybe one every 3 miles or so. I thought this was really inadequate and would hope they would add more in future years.

I know others had issues with transportation, but I really didn't. I stayed a bit away from campus, and just drove my own car and parked in the lot across from the stadium and it was easy as could be.

That said, it was a good time, I was impressed by the professionalism of everyone involved. They did a great job with everything from bib pickup to finish line organization. The community was super friendly and behind the runners with great support.

The only surprise on the course was that mile 23 has about a 1/4 to 1/2 mile uphill slope that really isn't that bad but it was a surprise when the rest of the course was as flat as scraped earth. Had to dig a little deep in that section.

I also would recommend doing the 5k/Marathon combo medal -- it was a nice warmup the night before the race to get a little 5K in around downtown Champaign. It actually was a nice chance to pick out which tavern I wanted to go get a beer and burger in after the 5K.

If you haven't run this one, have already done the Chicago Marathon, and you live within a day's drive, run it. I enjoyed it a lot.