This race is in the Chicago suburbs, so it was a little tough logistics wise and there wasn't a lot of communication leading up to it. We hit about a mile or two of backed up traffic trying to get to parking. We ended up following the lead of people who knew the area a bit better than we did and took an alternate route to the same parking area that sped things up; not sure why the race officials didn't split it up to direct people that way as well to help with the congestion.

Packet pick-up was either in the suburbs the day before or at the race site race morning, so I opted for the latter. Super quick pick-up with no issues. Sprint people (the race I opted for) all had one colored cap, which was kind of a bummer because there was no way to distinguish competition in the water. It was also a self-seeded swim start, which people always have a hard time with (myself included!) so the water was a bit congested. The bike was TOUGH for somebody who isn't used to hills. The challenge was fun looking back on it, but in the moment I hated it. The run was beautiful, though; a full loop around the lake.

Overall, it was a fun race. I just highlighted the non-great parts, but other than those few things, it was well-run and in a beautiful location. For somebody needing a bit of hills in their schedule, this is a great option.