I've heard about the Bucktown 5k for a while now - everyone I've met that has ran it has loved it. I am now also in that category!
+ First of all, RamRacing always kills it on the race swag game. Sweatpants?! I'm sold. I didn't take them off all week. They also had awesome hats for the first 10% of finishers!
+ Loved running a race in a new area of Chicago! Most races take to the lakefront so it is a wonderful and welcomed change of scenery in such a gem of a neighborhood. Bucktown has so much to offer and a nice 5k course is among them.
+ Easy packet pick up (well, at least as a local!) and super friendly staff in the store. For events like 5ks, I like the ease of picking up my packet at a store instead of an expo.
+ From my experience, Ram Racing runs smooth events - for the neighborhood, this was a crowded race (probably 6k people?!) - but I never saw any real issues with this. I think that the streets they use are wide enough to accomodate the larger amount of racers (as opposed to the lakefront trail).
+ Nice use of the park area for pre/post race

Could improve:
- I didn't drive, but I believe the area would probably be a little difficult to drive to/park at. I'd suggest taking the blue line or a bus to this race if possible!

Overall, I loved it and will be back again! It's so refreshing to be able to run somewhere new in the city!