I ran the inaugural Edgewater 5k in 2014, and I knew I wanted to come back for the second year of my neighborhood 5k (even though it conflicted with a half marathon I really wanted to run!). It begins at Sheridan Road, and they shut the street down for the runners, which is fun. Runners go south on Sheridan to the beginning of the Lakefront Path at Ardmore, and head south on the path until a turnaround at Foster Beach. Runners head back north along the water, then back on the path and back up Sheridan to the finish. In 2014, the race started on Granville, but everything was situated a bit further north this year, with the race start on Rosemont and gear check and tents set up in the new pedestrian square at Kenmore and Rosemont.

The course is pretty fast, and most of it coincides with my normal running path, so the scenery is very familiar to me (though it's fun to run in the street). The race is a fundraiser for several local schools, and you can sponsor free entries for kids at the schools as well. So between the neighborhood/family element, and the sponsored student runners, there are a large number of kids at the race, especially in the 10-14 or so age range. I think it's a great experience to get so many people out there running on the path, so I really love this race, but beware it might be tough to get a PR--inexperienced kids tend to sprint a bit and then run out of steam in the middle of the street or path, and don't realize they are right in front of someone. So you may have to dodge around a bit (but there's always plenty of room).

Last year, I thought the tech tshirt for this race was pretty cute, and it's one I actually enjoy wearing on my training runs. This year, I wasn't crazy about it--the printing of the logo in front is noticeably cheap. I'm a little worried it will wear off in the wash too.

The race organization is good, except the website(s). The race appeared on several sites in its inaugural year, and some have never been updated or taken down. I would search and have to click on a few results before I made sure I was looking at the date, time, and location as of 2015 instead of 2014. It wasn't a huge deal, but it was a little annoying. It would be great if the race had a cleaner online presence. There's also no race map online, and the swag doesn't get publicized until the last minute if at all. These things really aren't a big deal for a neighborhood race, IMO, but you should be aware that it's not a super slickly organized 5k (like, for example, the Bucktown 5k, which is a much fancier "neighborhood race").

Packet pickup is a breeze, and on race day everything is very relaxed and well taken care of. Both years, we've started right on time, which is great, and there are plenty of bananas and water at the end. I'll definitely race this again.