I freaking love this race! It's the battle of the Big Ten schools with pride on the lines. Everyone comes dressed in their school colors and ready to rock it out!
PROS
--nice tech shirt. I love that it has your school and is in your school colors
--expo was great. Each school had a booth with giveaways and there was a large screen to watch the runners
--race management couldn't have been better. Very organized and it was a nice, safe event.
--Holy BLING--super cool Big Ten medal for all finishers
--the course is lakefront and around museum campus. Nice smooth surfaces to run on and great views of the museums, soldier field, and downtown.

CONS
--it is hard to try to park. Best to use the CTA red line and exit at Roosevelt. It's a short walk to the race
--the beer line was ridiculous! It wrapped around the whole expo and made visiting the booths hard (they addressed this for 2014)
--its a super large race. Prepare to be corralled for a while before your start time gets called. Literally if you are slow like me it will be five plus minutes before you cross the start line.
--No strollers hard to handle when I had two little ones

TIPS
--get there early! You want to get your ID checked if you are going to have an adult beverage and with the sheer volume of participants you want to be able to get in your corral ahead of time.
--dress for school spirit. It is one of those races where you look odd NOT totally dressed up.
--check the stroller policy. It is strict and detailed and was inforced.
--Don't forget to grab your bling at the finish. It's worth participating just to get the medal. :-)

This is another race that my son and I did the 5K and my husband did the 10K. 10K starts first so we all finish around the same time. Perfect for a family.