I will probably not run Chicago again. But i am glad i did it.
I suggest you run it for the expereince and when you do sign up for the CARA VIP experience.

The good: Its a flat course
The bad : its crowded

A lot of this review will be in comparison to Berlin (sorry but its my frame of reference for a world major)

Communication leading up to the race: i really appreciated both the paper brochure and the email. Kudos to the RD!
Also with the weather being as tumultuous as it has been the communication about conditions was on par.

The Expo:
I am a bit torn. It was manageable (not borderline overwhelming lile Berlin) but it lacked some of the things i have come to expect at expos.... DISCOUNTS lol
In all seriousness though, the "official" race merch and the "other" race merch were difficult for me to distinguish. There were several vendors selling chicago shirts and 26.2 shirts but they weren't Chicago Marathon... If that makes sense.
I was happy with the samples and impressed with the beer and wine vendors.
The only problem was going in and out was a hassle. I understand its for secjroty reasons but at least with Berlin i had a wrist band which let me back in...

The course:
Good god the crowds...(I'm now anxious about New York....)
There were sooo many people and there were soo many in the incorrect corrals and there were so many everywhere.
Which on the one hand made this a really cool race. There was never a dead spot between the runners and the people cheering. Juat when the crowds thinned they picked right back up. SURPRISINGLY... The portopotties were never crowded or gross 👏👏
I didnt like how difficult it was to navigate the bodies, especially when the course narrowed.
Course support was fantastic amd everyone was cheering and helpful.
Also running through the different parts of the city was really cool
The spiraling glass Towers were juxtaposed with the semi gothic-looking churches and the seemingly out-of-place IHOP made the race pass by pretty quickly

Also I don't know who put that guy in drag on the stage but thank him/her for cheering

I think the only thing I didn't like about the course was somewhere around mile 19 or 20 there was train tracks and they were annoying not impossible just annoying.
Okay and since i am complaining mile 5 and mile 15 do need to be repatched so if someone from the city of Chicago reads this please patch mile 5 and mile 15

Post race:
I like the bag of snacks they give you and the tape they use to hold you heat shield was pretty dope.
Beer was good. Really good.

I never made it to the Biofreeze mile 27 which i kind of regretted but....next time???

All in all-do the race.
I probably wont be back, but i also said i probably wont run a marathon 🙈🙉🙊