The 2017 Chicago Polar Dash Half Marathon (1/7/2017) lived up to its name! It was a very cold, very windy, sunny run on the Chicago Lakefront path. At the 9 AM start time, the temperature was 9 F with 13 mph winds.

Although other parking (with a fairly significant walk) can be had for much cheaper, my friends and I splurged for the $20 parking right near the start line. Although an email said that payment would be taken on the way out of the garage, the $20 was collected as cars entered because people were not expecting to pay upon entering cars backed up a bit. Although the parking was convenient, it would have been nice if the garage restrooms were open, it was so cold it was actually difficult to use the port-a-potties.

After parking, we went to the warming tent so that one of us could get their proper bib (they had changed races online the day before) and although the tent smelled heavily of propane, it was much warmer than outside and it was nice to keep our feet warm before the start of the races. On a day like this, it is easy to get super cold feet before a race starts. The heaters were great.

The half marathon started promptly at 9:00 am right after the first of the 1 mile runs which are part of the Yeti (1700 M, 10K and 5K) and Everest (1700 M, half marathon and 5K) challenges. I wish someone had pointed out to me that the Half marathon was actually longer than the Yeti challenge at the time of sign up. It would have been nice to get the four medals for actually running further than the Yeti. Oh well, my bad. The half marathon was run on the lakefront path and went 6.55 miles south down past the Science & Industry museum and then back. The sun was out and the views of the frozen lake and ponds were spectacular. A huge shout out to all the volunteers who stayed at the aid stations throughout the race and made sure that non frozen water was available. Although I didn't drink any there seemed to be plenty of Gatorade and also gels at a number of stations. Given the weather, I was pleasantly surprised at how well the Aid Stations were manned.

Just as I finished the race, the 5K was taking off and if I have any complaint (and this is small) it was that I had to go looking for my medal. There wasn't anyone around handing out the medals at the finish line. After I got my medal, I went to the warming tent and got my one cup of hot chocolate (seriously, they take a ticket for hot chocolate???!!) that wasn't particularly hot. There were some granola bars and pretzels too. For a race this size, I expected better food after the race. People had run 13.1 miles and further, it would be nice to have a bit more available.

Pros: Easy parking, great jacket & hat, beautiful views of the city, heaters in the warming tent, plentiful aid stations, lots of port-a-potties, nice medal
Cons: stingy after party

I probably won't do this race again, the weather is just too iffy in Chicago in January but I highly recommend doing it at least once!