Soldier Field 10 Mile

Soldier Field 10 Mile

Soldier Field 10 Mile

( 82 reviews )
96% of reviewers recommend this race
  • Chicago,
    Illinois,
    United States
  • May
  • 10 miles, Virtual Race
  • Road Race
  • Event Website

Cass

Chicago, Illinois, United States
72 31
2014
"Great Memorial Day weekend race"
Overall
T-Shirts/SWAG
Aid Stations
Course Scenery
Expo Quality
Elevation Difficulty
Parking/Access
Race Management
Cass 's thoughts:

This was my first time running the Soldier Field 10-miler after hearing a lot of positive feedback about this race over the past few years. What a way to welcome spring/summer weather! Overall I had a good race experience and would run it again.

Pros:
- This race is very well managed. It is well organized and carried out - from getting your gear (a nice dry fit t-shirt and bib), to the gear check, to how efficient the process is afterwards (bonus: awesome snack bag that is reusable!). The corrals were easy to get in and spaced out well. The aid stations were well-staffed. The mile markers were well placed and easy to see, and every mile marker also had the race time included, which was very helpful.
- Different route than many Chicago races. It's definitely a nice refresher to get to run on the south side of Chicago for a change.
- Great theme and awesome that you receive a medal from someone who has served our country! I admit I did get a little choked up in the beginning (pre-race) when they were announcing stories of some of the racers who had lost loved ones overseas and taps was played. It was very inspiring to see some of the men and women in uniform that should be front-of-mind on Memorial Day weekend.
- Good distance: 10 miles is a more unique distance in the running world and is good for a lot of runners looking to have a longer distance race before a half marathon in the late spring/summer time. It's also a good distance for beginning runners that have run 5ks and 8ks in the past that are looking to push themselves a bit further.
- Fun post-race party and venue.
- Packet pickup is offered over the course of an entire week which is very convenient. It is a little less ideal if you are not a Chicago native as it is just coming in and picking up a shirt and a bib / there is no expo or anything else to come in for.

Cons:
- The first 4 miles are definitely not very scenic. The good news is that there is a lot of space because they close down a large road to run on, the bad news is that you are running on a large road heading south with not much else to look at. The route back up was on a much smaller lakefront trail but by the time you got to the turnaround (mile ~5), there is more comfortable spacing. The view going back up towards the city by the lake is much better than the first few miles!
- My mom ran the race and mentioned that after the race she was trying to get ice for her leg and she had to stop at 3 different aid areas because the first two were all out of ice. I'm not exactly sure what happened with that, but I do know the race is growing bigger every year so perhaps the aid stations were not as prepared for the volume of people.
- I'm being a little picky here, but in the very beginning on the race you go into a tunnel area that is very dark with some uneven ground. I wish there was a way to get more light in there - I kept feeling like someone was bound to fall/trip.

I was glad I decided to sign up to run the SF 10-miler this year and will most likely be there again next year!

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