The theme shouldn't be the weather since its out of the race control, but its an unavoidable topic. It rained. A lot. For any runner who has been doing this a while, we have all ran in bad weather. The race could have started at 8am sharp and it did not. I was in front corrals and it was wet and cold and would have been nice to skip a bit of the talking and get to running. Pointing out that runners should be careful with all the toss-out rain gear was smart. Avoiding painted lines and manholes would have been good advice for newbies. Anyway, out of race control so moving on!

As far as the start, the same issues exist for all large races (bathroom lines) so short of multiplying the amount of bathrooms, just get there early and watch what you drink the morning of the race. No need to pound fluids for a 10 mile run on a cool day in the morning. Hydration starts days before anyway. The bag-drop busses were not good. I stayed in a line, was told bus was full, went to another line, same thing happened and finally 30 minutes later, got one of the last stickers and bands for that bus. Someone has to let folks know the bus is filling up. I nearly was late to the corral. Large race or not, this can and should be fixed. Its a bus with a set number of spaces. Have another volunteer count off folks and set the end of line.

The race itself was awesome. I got out fast and got in a nice rhythm early with no crowds or anyone clipping my heels. I didn't use any of the water stations but they were plentiful and well staffed (bless them for standing out there!!). I found the finish area to be great, but if it got crowded I can see the narrow street to be an issue. Personally, it was smooth and although no real sign to go grab a medal and a snack, it was easy to spot with the tents. Getting out of the race area was a different story (I stayed at the Courtyard on site at finish) and it was tough getting out. Otherwise, it was a very "Chicago Marathon -like" course and nicely set up to run fast and comfortable.

Race gets an "A-" from me and looking forward to next year.