The Chicago Marathon

The Chicago Marathon

The Chicago Marathon

( 250 reviews )
99% of reviewers recommend this race
  • Chicago,
    Illinois,
    United States
  • October
  • 3 miles/5K, 26.2 miles/Marathon
  • Road Race
  • Event Website

Jessica Rudd

Atlanta, Georgia, United States
68 61
2015
"A great destination race!"
Overall
T-Shirts/SWAG
Aid Stations
Course Scenery
Expo Quality
Elevation Difficulty
Parking/Access
Race Management
Jessica Rudd's thoughts:

I'd like to run all the Marathon Majors, so after running NYC in 2013 I set my sights on Chicago. My husband and I have never been to Chicago and the date happened to coincide with our 1 year anniversary so what better reason to visit this beautiful city??
Chicago is a beautiful big city with a small town personality. Everyone is very laid back and friendly and I think this translates to the race as well, Even though it's a huge race (40,000+ runners) I never felt overwhelmed. Everything seemed very organized and calm.
The expo is a little off the beaten path in that it;s not easily accessible by transit. However, there were several shuttle locations near the race hotels so we just took the train to one of the hotels and then the shuttle down to the expo. We never had to drive anywhere but I think there was convenient parking at the expo center as well. The expo itself was one of the largest I've seen but very nicely organized. We got there early on the first day so I'm not sure if the lines were very long on Saturday. I showed my confirmation to someone who entered it in a computer and then told me to head to line 18 (out of 22?). Before I made it to my designated check in there was a crowd of people blocking my way. However, the gentleman at table 18 saw me and yelled 'Jessica, over here!' I guess once you do the initial check in they send your info to the packet pickup people so they're expecting you. Nice touch! Again, just very friendly, helpful people. Yay for midwesterners.
The expo became kind of crowded the longer we were there but the aisles were nice and wide so it didn't feel too claustrophobic. I hate hectic crowds so this was nice for me. The North Face and Nike were the two big stores where people bought most of their race paraphanalia. I opted for the Nike finishers jacket. Overpriced for sure (as expected) but that's the one item I promised myself I could get (since I never got a finishers jacket in NYC).
Race Day: We were staying about 20 minutes outside of downtown so I wanted to make sure I had plenty of time to get to the start (gotta beat those potty lines!). I arrived at 6 and it was still really quiet so there were no lines for security, bag check, or potties. By 7:15 it was crowded though and I waited in a long but fast moving line for one more potty break.
I walked to my corral and found my pace group. It was a beautiful morning, if not a bit windy. Wave 2 started at 8am and our corral crossed the start about 15 minutes later. It was quite crowded but everyone was moving. I was warned about this and tried my best not to weave around people. Just relax and keep the pace sign in sight. There's a blue tangeant line painted on the ground for the elites to follow and this helps stay on the shortest course, especially since Chicago has a ridiculous amount of turns. Despite my best efforts, by the halfway mark my garmin was half mile ahead of the mile markers. Oh well. Also, it just wasn't my day so I fell off my pace group and switched to intervals. However, Chicago is a great city and course to just have a good time. Once I switched my game plan and decided just to have fun this was an easy task. Only other downside? It was 75 degrees by the time I finished, probably accounting partially for my less than stellar performance. I think it nearly reached 80 for the day. That's a seriously hot race, especially on asphault in an urban environment with little tree cover. Oh well.
At the last turn at mile 26 they had course monitors pulling anyone without a bib off course. Word to the wise, if you wear layers at the start make sure you put your bib on your base layer so you don't accidentally dump you bib. I saw some people fall into this trap and they couldn't finish. Bummer.
There were a lot of first time marathoners around me at the finish so there were a lot of tears. I always get a little emotional at the finish, but when people around me start crying it really sets me off with the water works. Happy tears after a hot race!
The course wasn't pancake flat as I expected; there were some small hills, mostly over the bridges, and then the hill up one block right at mile 26. Still nothing compared to Atlanta. Should be a great PR course if the conditions are better.
After the race grabbed some water, snack bag, medal, and check bag pretty quickly and then used one of their changing tents to put on dry clothes (considering how salty I felt, I'm so glad I brought dry clothes and sandals - highly recommended). Finally met my husband at the family meetup and we left right away, so we didn't stay for the post-race party. They did have a band playing though, and there was beer.
Ended my day with a picture at the bean and then a Chicago style dog at Portillos. Great day!

Cons: The only con I would say is the medal this year. They put the iconic Chicago bean sculpture and this doesn't really translate to medal form. It just looks like a kidney. Bad.

Loading Comments...

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

Latest reviews

Loading Reviews...