Pre Race - Expo this year seemed lacking compared to years past, but it is still top notch. You can get gear from almost every brand. Get there early! If you want Nike gear go to Fleet Feet or one of the Nike stores to buy it. That line is the longest. I love the participant shirt from this year. Definitely one of the best. I also liked the blue one from 2013? It was a year I didn't run. Super easy to get there via train or uber.

Race Morning - I thankfully trained with CARA and went to the Palmer House pre race. Easy to get to the start and we had private port o potties. I didn't wait in line to pee a second time, sometimes race day makes you do bold things. I understand security being tight, but it was super unorganized. Let red bibs go first and those without bags go in a separate line. It was a stressful situation. C corral was "oversold" so it was huge to start, but I think that was the way for all of the red bibs.

The Race- This is the best race, period. The course, fans, aid stations. You can see so many friends along the course who can see you multiple ties the way the course it set up. It is such a great experience even though I felt like sh!t, I reminded myself how much I love running and the city of Chicago.

Post race - The medal ribbon was kind of eh, and the post race snacks were all cheese type crackers - something plain would have been lovely. But they put it in a BAG for you so you don't have to carry a ton of stuff with you in post marathon hands. You get a heetsheet. It was too hot for one, then my body temp dropped and I was freezing so I'm glad I had it for the walk back to the Palmer House.

I didn't go to the post race party. The Chicago Marathon is the best race, the weather can be a crap shoot and is the only negative factor when thinking about entering for 2018. If I'm not racing it I'm out spectating it.

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