Disclaimer: I received a free entry to the Mag Mile Half Marathon as part of being a BibRave Pro. Learn more about becoming a BibRave Pro (ambassador), and check out BibRave.com to review find and write race reviews!

I love running fall half marathons and very much love running the races along Chicago’s beautiful lakefront. The Mag Mile Half Marathon caught my eye earlier in the year from their colorful logo and awesome looking medal. This race used to be called the Magnificent Mile Women’s Half Marathon and for this year was renamed. There were also two charities that sponsored the event. The first was the American Cancer Society and the second being the Chicago Help Initiative.

The Mag Mile Half had packet pickups on two different dates at the Deerfield, Elmhurst, and Old Town Fleet Feet stores. I went to the Old Town store as parking is usually pretty easy and the store just has so much eye candy of running gear! Plus, I knew I had to get the new Saucony Chicago Marathon shoes! As always, RAM Racing has friendly workers handing out the packets quickly and always wishing you luck. The shirt is a long sleeve cool design in either pink or black. Also included is a Fanny May Mag Mile salted almond chocolate bar.

The race itself starts as many of the RAM races do in Grant Park and right at the crack of dawn. There’s always plenty of parking garages in the area for reasonable fees. Everything was well labeled for gear check which opened at 5:30am as well as the plenty of port-o-potties. The course takes the runners along Randolph and onto Michigan Avenue which is the only race to do so. You eventually turnaround and head south back down Michigan and around by the Lakefront path. There is just so much to see with the skyline and running past McCormick Place and Soldier Field. The course then heads back north towards Grant Park and the finish line. I do like how you can see the leaders heading back along the adjacent path as they cruise to victory. It’s always inspiring to see just how fast some runners are!

The post race party is just intensely exciting as expected. There are always tons of supporters and your name being announced as you cross the finish line. You are immediately greeted by volunteers handing out the blue cold and wet towels before receiving your incredibly cool medal! It was bigger and heavier than I thought from the pics I’ve seen. There is a also a table of bagged goodies for the finishers. There were chips, a great Corner Bakery sandwich, and an Eli’s Cheesecake. The post race area also had a huge set up of local vendors and shops like Fleet Feet Sports, The Brookfield Zoo with a cool Sloth, post race massages by Athletico, Columbia, and North Face.

All in all, a job well done by RAM Racing and Fleet Feet for putting on yet another great race and post race party. And, as always, it was great to see my fellow BibRave Pros Eric, Heather, and Kim!