Registration: Available online and at the expo. In the price range of $100 plus. Included with your fees were a short sleeve, gender specific, tech tee; timing chip, bag with goodies, finishers medal & post race beer.

Expo: The expo was held at the McCormick Center. Parking was pricey, but you could take the bus or taxi.. It would be quite a walk from downtown. This venue is huge, there were signs pointing you the direction to the expo. It was easy to pick up your bib and get your shirt, there was even a shirt exchange for the half.

The expo was on Friday and Saturday. I attended on Friday afternoon and it seemed not as busy. Vendors with samples and photo opportunities. There was an ID pre-check, you could get a wrist band for quicker post race beer. *I did not want to wear the paper band for a couple of days.

Pre-race: There were a lot of people milling about Columbus St. There were port-o-potties and gear check was available with the bag you received at the expo. Parking would have been available near downtown Chicago, which is pricey. There were 12 corrals, the bib numbers reflected your placement, I did not notice anyone checking the bibs. However, I entered a corral after mine, a minute before that corral started. The 10k also started with the half. The National Anthem was sung live and then the corrals were started, about 2 minutes between each.

Race / Course: The race twisted through downtown Chicago and then south and back.
-Terrain: all paved surfaces and bridge grates, but many cracks and man hole covers to watch out for. It also rained a bit, combined with the humidity it made for slippery spots. There was also McCormick Tunnel - it's the easiest way to get from point to point, but always dark and lots of chances to trip on uneven ground.
-Elevation: It's Chicago, for me that means flat, but there are overpasses and bridges with some a little elevation.
-Volunteers: There are a ton of volunteers that make this event possible. They were all busy doing their best to keep up with their duties.
-Aid Stations: There were stops with hydration (water and Gatorade Endurance) and some were getting behind. Some stops had sponges and some with SIS gels.
-Medical: There were medical tents with ice and supposedly salt. I also saw lots of medical personal on the course.
-Entertainment: There were a few brass type bands downtown and "acts." The first rock n roll type band was just around mile 6. Then a few more bands on the way to the finish.
-Spectators: I felt they were out in full force. Even some with their own make shift water stops.
-Photography: many on the course and available for purchase a day later.
-Course: Each mile was marked, and the turns were easy to figure out. There were split timing mats. There were a lot of turns, and running through downtown Chicago always plays havoc with the GPS.
-Scenery: Running through downtown allows you to see the city and some of the sights. Then there is the loop that goes out south and back north. While it's always nice to run along the lake for the views, with this many runners I appreciate the width of the streets and not the LFP.

Finish: The finisher arch was easy to spot in the last half mile. Once across the finish line a box of water was handed to me, then a medal was handed to me. I had to go find the wash clothes and the bottled Gatorade. Then I was able to follow the food line to find, Pringles, granola bar, crackers, banana and pineapple juice.
*apparently there was chocolate milk?

Post Race: After the finisher's chute we were encouraged to move along and go to the post race party / family reunion area. En route to this area there were vendors with free samples. Once to the party area there was a stage with a band performing, the beer tent (Michelob Ultra was the post race beer), medal engraving and many more sponsors with samples. Not many areas with shade.

My Race: I did not specifically set a goal for this race, just to finish. The weather leading up to race day had been abysmal, so training was rough. I met a friend and hopped into a corral late, then I was off. The 10k split was in the first mile, so it was nice to lose some of the crowd. I really had to watch my footing as I found the entire course very slippery, especially the grates on the bridge. When I ran in 2014 I was disappointed with the lack of "a band every mile." So going into this year I knew not to expect that, so I was surprised at the amount of musical variety on the course. I ran into friends I knew on course, and was soaking wet from humidity early on. I don't have anything special or exciting that sticks out for my race until I came out of the stinkin McCormick tunnel. I saw a person being attended to by paramedics and I hope they are ok. This was about mile 11.5 so it kind of shook me up for the rest of the race. When I turned on to the last street, the finish line felt sooooo far away. I did finish with a time of about 2:28, which I will gladly take!

Overall: RnR races are expensive, but you get a cool medal. I would imagine each city has restrictions on what make race day possible. This also leads to inconsistencies across this race series, as each city can't offer the same race day experience. Chicago does its best, but I would like to see a bigger headlining band and I still want more rock n roll.

Link to this review