Packet pick-up: There was a line of 15+ people waiting to get their packet when I arrived! (WHAT?) Although the line moved quickly (10-15 minute wait) I was annoyed I had to wait for more than 30 seconds given how small this race was. They assigned bib numbers to people when they arrived, rather than in advance – thus leading to the wait. Also, from what I heard, this also caused some people who chose to do packet pick-up on race day to miss the start of the race. Major bummer! The race shirts were a cotton blend of some sort but it fit nicely so I give the shirts a thumbs-up.

Race: They had starting corrals that were spacious and did a wave start with a minute or so between corrals. The first half of the course was on LSD! This was pretty cool and definitely unique for being in the city and for being a smaller shorter race! There was still traffic flowing but there were hundreds, if not thousands of orange cones lining the route. Unfortunately due to my delayed review (it was T-giving weekend!), I don’t remember too much more about the actual race. That must also mean there wasn’t much that stood out for being exceptionally great or exceptionally terrible.

Post-race: There was plenty of activity going on in the post-race area. There were vendors and games. I didn’t stick around very long after the race but I’m sure there was plenty of fun to be had. The original race results that they posted online changed several hours later. I was excited and shocked when I saw the original post because I didn’t think my time was good enough place so well (4th). But when I checked again I had dropped 15 places down to 19th. I was disappointed and a little irritated. I would’ve been okay with my final place had I never thought I placed higher. They should review the information briefly before posting it to the website. (Can you tell I’m still a little annoyed?) (Side note: I just checked the results again and I dropped down to 28th.....)

I was happy I ran this race because it was nice to see friends on a day that for me that is usually reserved for family. It was also conveniently located to where I live (the main reason I picked this race) and not to mention, I had to earn my extra slice of Thanksgiving apple pie somehow! All that being said, I wasn’t wow-ed by this race and chomping at the bit to register for next year. And since there are a handful of other races in the Chicago-land area on Thanksgiving Day next year I’ll have to think twice before deciding to do this one.

Photo: Me and a couple of other FFNRT teammates post race.

Link to this review