This race is one of 3 distances offered in beautiful St. Charles, IL along the Fox River. There is also a 20 miler (for those running the Chicago Marathon) and a full marathon.

I registered about 6-7 weeks before the race and the price just for the half was $100! Other than Rock & Roll, I don't know any other race that costs this much. This is the only downside to the event, in my opinion.

There were 2 packet pickup options, one in downtown Chicago a few days prior, and then the main packet pickup near the start line. The expo is TINY, but covered the essentials. I liked that the bib was personalized, and had the QR code to scan for results.

Although St. Charles is a fairly small town, there were plenty of public parking garages open for use. It was pretty easy to navigate from parking to the start line. All 3 race distances started at the same time. There was a wave start that moved quickly.

The first 5 miles of the half were winding around city streets, just teasing us with the view of the water. Plenty of hills in this section. We'd climb up away from the river, then back down, then up, and back. The race offered pace groups. A few sections of the trail narrowed and it got pretty crowded, even 6 miles in. The second half of the course was along the path by the river which was more of what I was expecting.

Lots of water stations, got a nice long sleeve tech shirt and big medal. They do offer additional medals for those who do the race for multiple years in a row.

Interesting post-race food - there was macaroni & cheese, sirloin skewers - they had a BBQ grill going! Lots of snacks.

I would totally do it again (and probably will!)

The race is set mainly along the Fox River, running from St. Charles to Batavia and back.