I love this race and have done it three times, my most recent being 2011. It is an awesome event! (I've never been to the EXPO, sorry.) It's flat, it's fast, you finish on Soldier Field, you run along the lake for the last 5 miles, and there are enough people to make it seem big and important even though it's a quick 10-miler. There is plenty of support along the race, should you need it. (They take the weather warnings very seriously and actually stopped runners when the heat advisory got too severe one year.) The 2013 t-shirt was somewhat disappointing, but the shirts have usually been great. If you don't want to go to the EXPO, you can pick up your stuff at Fleet Feet, which is always convenient.