Well from what I heard from last year this race was a complete 180 in terms of weather conditions, but that is the gamble you take with a mid Jan race.

The weather really lucked out sunn and low 40's. This race was just begging for a PR.

The course looped you around Soldier Field then straight down the Lake Front Path heading south.

For stating at 10 AM the path was pretty empty. The bike marshals at the front did a great job guiding no racers off to the side while we plowed through. It was a simple out and back course, flat and easy, a few steady inclines that can be a bit daunting ( and incline is daunting for a chicago runner ) but it breaks up the flatness of the course nicely. The south part of the path is a nice windy trail which is really nice because it breaks up those long straightaways that the northern part of the trail has.

My only complaint about the race was the aid stations, few and far between, as we looped around they were unprepared and not ready for the lead pack and were joking around a bit, which was pretty frustrating. at 12 miles I'm needing a sip of water and there were about 15 people just standing around no one holding out a cup.

one of the best perks of this race was the access to the United Club in the stadium where you could wait int he warmth pre and post race!

Over all it was a fantastic race, and I'm willing to gamble with the weather again next year!