I wish every day could be Sunday, October 12, 2014. The Chicago Marathon 2014 did not disappoint! This was my 7th consecutive CM and every year after I cross the finish line, I can’t wait to return the following year.

Everything from registration to the race expo to race day is well organized. I’m always extremely impressed with how smoothly things go. This is definitely a race I highly recommend.

Pros
-Giant race expo with all of the most recent running products. There are always big names doing a Q&A and/or signing autographs. The expo is easy to navigate and you can get in and out very quickly or you can stay all day long! This year I went both Friday late afternoon and Saturday early afternoon. It was definitely less crowded on Friday but still manageable on Saturday.
-For security reasons, only race participants are allowed in start area. I like this because it keeps things from getting too crowded, especially the porta potty lines. 
-The crowd support is spectacular. Not only do they cheer, they have encouraging and often hilarious signs. They are also people often offering shots of beer, candy, popsicles, fruit and more. As much fun as the runners are having, the spectators are having just as much fun! The race wouldn’t be the same without them.
-Fun and fast course with lots of well stocked aid stations.
- There are great recovery drinks/snacks immediately after you cross the finish line -- Goose Island beer, PowerBar protein shakes and bars, Brookside chocolates and more!

Cons
-The race shirt was less than exciting this year which surprised me! They’re always very simple but this year they look like absolutely no effort was put into them. Maybe this was to subconsciously make people buy the other Nike CM apparel.
-In the start corrals the pace leaders have giant plywood signs they hold so you can easily find your group. They then drop the big signs right before the start and historically the pace leaders would then carry small signs during the race to indicate which pace group they were. This year they did not carry the small signs but instead had a pace time on their back. This made it much more difficult to stick with a pace group and to tell which pace group you were approaching.
-There’s amazing crowd support along the entire course; however, for security reasons there is very minimal crowd support as you run the last 0.2 miles of the race. Although I understand their reasoning for not allowing spectators closer to the finish line, I really miss the cheering all the way to the end.

I highly recommend this race to everyone – from those 1st timers to the season vetrans. This race never ceases to amaze me.