I absolutely love this race. I know it's big, and congested, and kind of a cluster, but I have a blast every year and I think that should be the gauge of an event in my mind. This year, the course changed and weaves through the loop more instead of heading west towards the UC. I liked the change and it broke up the wind a little too. The support for this race is amazing, especially for an 8k. Thousands of people line the streets - it's such a great experience. I know corrals after wave 1 can get pretty congested and even the wide Chicago streets have difficulty handling the 40k runners. The corral system seemed more organized this year than last year - even better than the BoA Chicago Marathon. My only real complaint this year was the shirt. The past few years, it was well designed and festive. This year, a white shirt with basically a Bank of America logo was all we got. Hopefully they'll add more creativity next year. If you're looking for a huge race atmosphere and an exciting spring race, look into the Shuffle!