You can't go wrong when you run the Chicago Marathon.

IT's a great race for first time runners, if you can get in through the lottery if this is your first time running a marathon. The course is flat fast and offers a ton of scenic view of Chicago taking you through 29 of chicanos diverse neighborhoods.

The expo is always pretty painless once you are there, as any expo goes I always try to get int eh first day when it open to avoid the weekend crowd, it's worth taking a day off or a half to to navigate through. It is large and spread out to accommodate the 45,000+ runners, friends and family coming through to collect their packets.

Race day is well organized, there are quite a few checkpoints to get to as you try to make your way through gear check and to your coral, so give yourself a few extra minutes, the lines can get back up fairly quickly. If you can avoid having to check gear your line through the security points will be much shorter and faster as they break it out into 2 section of bags and no bags.

the volunteers and aid stations are long and fully stocked with fluids, sponges, and nutrition. They do a great job of making sure the stations are long so that plenty of runners can get access to fluids with out bottle necking the streets. But do be careful as the day goes on these sections can get slippery.

The course only has one major con, the last 1/3 of the course doesn't offer much coverage if the sun is high and hot, which it was this year with a strong wind. so be prepared to feel the burn on those last few miles. they can seem 10X longer than the really are.

The finishers area is packed with fans/volunteers/food and drink. its quite the reward fro finishing such an epic race.

This was my second chicago marathon and the crowds never disappoint, even on the south side the crowders seemed larger than year prior.

on a beautiful day this course can be you best friend, but on a not so forgiving day it can also be your worst enemy.

I highly recommend this course for athletes of ALL ages and abilities. its a great course to run and a great course to spectate on.