This is just a race that you HAVE to do if you get the chance. The course is awesome (minus maybe the 3 seconds you're actually in the Bronx), the crowd support is off the charts (especially Brooklyn & Central Park), and the field has a really cool international feel to it. The elevation is sneaky difficult with all the bridges, so prepare for hills.

Logistically, this race is insanely tough to pull off, so I'm impressed it was done so well. Be prepared to get up super early to leave your hotel and head to a bus or ferry to get over to Staten Island. Once you get to your chosen mode of transport (which you pick during the sign-up process), they take it from there. Once you get there, you'll probably be there for quite a while before the race actually starts, and if it's cold (like 2013), you'll want to be prepared.

My main gripe is that at the starting line, they instructed us to ditch our donate-able sweatshirts & pants too early and we were stuck in the cold for 30 minutes waiting for the gun. So plan on wearing lots of throw-away clothes, and keep them on as long as you can (but don't throw them on the bridge...they don't like that)!

Also, with so many people, be prepared to be log-jammed at the finish line for quite some time. It took me an hour to get out of the finishing area to meet my friends. But when you have 50,000 people and who knows how many spectators descending on Central Park, there's no way around it...you just have to factor it in.

Overall, it's an amazing experience that is worth the wait if it takes you a few tries to get in through the lottery (4 years for me). Chances are, with the $250+ price tag and high hotel/travel costs, you may only do it once.

The race is logistically a bit difficult given the location in Hyde Park and the lack of parking in the area (I parked the at the Museum for $20...another year I winged it and found a spot for free, but I was lucky). That's a benefit for you if you like smaller races, because that's probably 60% of the reason this race has such a small field. The other 40% is because most of the race is up and down a closed Lake Shore Drive, which is a total non-starter from a race experience point of view.

The expo is too short (closes at 7pm Fri and 5pm Sat) and it doesn't have much vendor support.

The main reason to run this race is to support a charity. Team World Vision uses this as a signature fundraising race, as do many other organizations like By The Hand Club for Kids. A lot of the water station volunteers are high school and middle school aged kids, which is cool because it's good to see them spending their time volunteering, but you also have to remember the aid stations aren't run super tight (from a keeping people out of the road perspective). They were better than expected, though! All were stocked and had plenty of volunteers!

Overall, it's not my favorite. But I don't really like any of the Half Marathons in Chicago, so there's that. Maybe I'll start running the Women's Half down Michigan Ave...can they restrict my entry cuz I'm a dude? Maybe I'll find out in 2015.

With the majority of the race taking place on the running paths through Millennium Park, the fall colors take a front seat in this one. The race is incredibly well organized and I got to take part in an optional heart study conducted by med students from a local university, which was pretty cool. The long sleeve tee was great and I still wear it often. The main drawback is that since most of the race is on the running path, there aren't a lot of spectators (which is typical of smaller races anyway) and it's a bit tough for your family to watch you run if they aren't so familiar with the area. Other than that, great race and definitely worth the trip for out-of-towners!

I'm not sure any race will ever top this one for me. Black Mountain, NC sits at the base of Mount Mitchell, the tallest peak in the Eastern United States. Two races occur simultaneously. With a starting altitude of 2,360 ft, runners in the Black Mountain Marathon climb nearly 3,000 feet over 13.1 miles through mountain trails with breathtaking views to the Blue Ridge Parkway at 5,340 ft. From there, they head back down the mountain and finish at a lake back in Black Mountain. Runners attempting the Mount Mitchell Challenge continue another 7 miles to the summit (6,684 ft) for a total of 4,324 ft of elevation gain. Once they hit the summit, they too return to town and finish at the lake.

It's funny though, it's not the elevation that will get ya. It's the fact that this race has a history of some pretty unpredictable weather. Being that it takes place in February, in 2010, the area had just experienced one of the worst ice storms in years. I had trail shoes, yak trax, ankle gaiters, you name it. When you have snow up to your knees or sometimes your hips, snow shoes are all that can save you. Each step was a gamble...ice, snow, thin ice covering freezing water.

So yeah, it was EPIC. I will never run a slower marathon. I will also never finish another race with tears in my eyes. There were times I thought they'd have to carry me back down the mountain. My feet were bricks of ice. I couldn't feel my face or hands. My knees & quads were shredded from the trek down. Once I hit the pavement at the base, I knew I just needed to drag myself in the last couple miles. I tossed off the yak traks and powered home.

Coming around the last corner, all that separates you from the finish is a half lap around a small lake with all your friends and family watching from the finish line. The smell of red beans & rice & BBQ fill the air, they announce your name, and you can't help but reflect on what you just experienced as you finish the last 1/4 mile. As I remembered the two ladies, who had to be in their 60s, sitting 3 miles off the Blue Ridge Parkway in freezing weather handing out trail mix or the fully staffed station at the top with flat coke, heaters, & gatorade, I couldn't help but tear up. Those people felt like family to me already, and I only exchanged a few minutes of conversation with them as I passed through their aid stations.

I debated not writing this review, if only to keep this race a secret. But hopefully others will get to share in this experience now too.

This review is based on the old course. The new Stadium to Sea course sounds a lot better, but the old course was so boring, I resorted to counting McDonald's and Yoshinoya restaurants to keep my mind occupied (yeah, yeah, maybe if I was faster in 2009, I wouldn't have been bored). Starting line was a bit of a mess, t-shirt sizes were laughably huge, and the course went through all the most boring parts of LA, except Chinatown. The morning marine layer offered a nice buffer from the sun, so that was a positive.