I believe this was my 5th year running this race. I love the change of pace with the course (not just a LFP and doesn't start downtown). The 2015 race was the first giant medal, and they repeated that again in 2016 for the 20th anniversary. It's honestly the size of my head. Race day temps started out nice, in the 60s, but rose quickly to upper 70s, sunny, and high humidity. Generally this might not have been too bad, but I was dealing with an upset stomach and the heat didn't help. Lake Shore Drive is awesome to run on, but there's a lack of shade, so no reprieve from the sun rays. Anyway, weather can't be helped, but I like to take note of race-day conditions.

PROS:
+ Packet pickup was at Soldier Field this year! Very convenient (in my opinion). Parking for $5 at Waldron Deck, which if you know Chicago, is a steal (it's normally $20 at the lowest there). PP held on Friday from 12–7 and Saturday 10a–5p. Race day pickup was an option during registration for extra $.
+ The expo had a lot of vendors and always great official merchandise.
+ Pickup was easy. They sent an email about a week prior with your bib number and corral assignment. Bib pickup was in number order, show your ID and receive your bib. Then head on over to a separate location to grab your shirt. No exchange at pickup, but you could bring your shirt to the race if you needed to exchange for a different size (from what I heard a volunteer tell someone else).
+ Plenty of communication from race management to keep everyone updated on the race.
+If you were coming from the city, they offered shuttles to bring you to the race. You must sign up in advance for a shuttle, and they print what shuttle you are on a tear off piece of the bib.
+ Parking available at Museum of Science and Industry for $20 - pay before leaving. Race start is about a mile walk from parking.
+ Plenty of portapotties around the starting line stretching down through the N corral.
+ Half marathon start at 7am with corrals from A–N at Jackson Park. Rolling wave start (no official wait times between each, when one finished the next one went right on through). 5k started at 7:45.
+ Great course – nice and wide at most places so the usual congestion you see on the lake front path doesn't happen. Everyone is able to spread out pretty quickly which is great.
+ Course goes around Jackson Park on local streets until it pops onto Lake Shore Drive where you head north until about 8 miles, head up the 'off' ramp, head west at the street, then down the 'on' ramp. These were slow incline/decline, nothing too steep, then you headed south on LSD until just before mile 13, where you turn down Hayes Dr towards the finish. The participant guide had an excellent running tour of the course and what you'd see - pretty awesome.
+ 10 Aid Stations on course with water, Skratch Labs (Lemonade), and bathrooms. The Skratch was a great flavor - enough water to dilute it from being super sweet like sports drinks often are on courses. Always Skratch then water.
+ Pretty flat course; a few minor inclines or declines here and there, but not significant.
+ Lots of volunteers on course cheering on runners.
+ Race Guards running the course making sure all runners were doing ok.
+ You'll see more spectators at this race than most other Chicago races.
+ Announcer names runners as they cross the finish.
+ GIANT medal at the finish line. Cold, wet towels, bottled water, and sports drinks. Go through the finishers chute on your way to the party. In the chute you'd get potato chips and bananas.
+ Post-race photos with backdrop. Lots of different photographers set up.
+ Free race photos. And I saw a good amount of photographers before the race, start line, on course, finish line.
+ This race is the second in the Chicagoland Half Marathon Series. Complete it along with the first (Chicago Spring HM) and receive an awesome challenge medal. Great quality and a cool design. Much better than the first year that I did 3 races for the series and the medal seemed a bit cheap. They cut it down to only 2 races for the challenge starting last year.
+ Big post-race party. Band, DJ, vendors offering free snacks/drinks (Smart Pop popcorn, Naked Juice). It was still crowded when I finished, which meant people were hanging around. Normally most races are pretty empty by the time I'm done.
+ Free pizza for runners (received 2 slices in individual boxes from Home Run Inn - choice of cheese or sausage).

CONS:
- Free beer was Michelob Ultra. To me that's a bummer (if you know me you know I prefer a craft beer, and Chicago has such a great craft beer scene that I'd love it if a large race could somehow partner with one of the breweries. However I am realistic and understand with such a large race that probably couldn't happen).
- By the 7th aid station, there was only water. It was a pretty warm day, and according to the participant guide there should have been Skratch available at all of them, so disappointing that it was only water (especially at the part of the race, when it's getting warm and participants could use the electrolytes).
- We were a good distance ahead of the 16mm pacers, yet I heard at some of the aid stations that they had to pack up and runners could get their own water off the table if they wanted it. I didn't understand this, as it's not like we were behind the pace requirement. I appreciate the time and efforts of all volunteers, and I'm sure they had already been out there a long time, but to me the stations should be stocked until the pace cutoff. It makes me sad to know that some of the runners behind me weren't getting the same support as those at the front or middle of the pack.