-
Chicago,
Illinois,
United States - May
- Other
- Road Race
- Event Website
Ben Lamers
Shorewood, Wisconsin, United StatesOverall
T-Shirts/SWAG
Aid Stations
Course Scenery
Expo Quality
Elevation Difficulty
Parking/Access
Race Management
I signed up for the Humboldt Mile a while back, looking to notch and official mile time, because it's all about what shows up on Athlinks, right? Most mile races in nearby cities (Des Moines, Minneapolis, and Indianapolis) are all week night runs, making it difficult for an out of towner to randomly show up. When I stumbled upon this one in Chicago, and on a weekend no less, I went in for it.
Packet pickup was originally going to be Saturday-Friday at either Nike Running Bucktown or Sip of Hope (depending on the day). That changed to only during the week at night, but packet pickup on race morning was added, so I opted for that. Quick and easy, plus a coupon for a free coffee at Sip of Hope AND a free coffee right there before the day. Can't get much better than that...if you're a coffee drinker.
The race is held in Humboldt Park along with, what seemed to be, endless amounts of baseball games. Most entrances to the park were blocked off (because, you know, we were running) but street parking is plentiful in the Humboldt Park area. I managed to snag a spot about 100m from the start line. Perfect.
Runners were asked to go into a Wave Start based on running ability, but I saw no enforcement of that, just go where you thought you should be. And most runners did, I had no issues with it at least. The RD said some words and we were off.
The course is pretty simple, it's only a mile after all. Down, take a left, and back up to the finish; all contained within the park. Water and various post-race snacks awaited at the finish. If you were up for it, if you ran Wave 1 quick enough, you would have time to jump back into Wave 3.
In case you were wondering, the course is USATF certified and has chip timing as well.
Oh, and can't forget about the swag! The shirt is a nice design, text saying Humboldt Mile with the Puerto Rican and Chicago flags in back of it. Plus it's a Nike shirt! Basically worth the entry fee right there. I could've done with a color other than white, but who cares, it's a nice shirt.
All in all, I really liked this event. I might not have had a great race personally, but this was super organized, and super convenient being an 11am start on a Saturday.