The Lakefront 10 and 5k is put on by the Chicago Area Runners Association. This is, by far, one of my favorite races on the Chicago race calendar.
Due to COVID, the race was capped at a certain amount of runners and the race SOLD OUT with a day for the 10 mile distance, which is what I ran.
Packet pickup was at 3 or 4 different Fleet Feet stores around Chicago. There was no on-site pickup on race day. Not a big deal. At registration, there was an option to purchase a medal or not. I chose to forgo the medal. I do love the long sleeve, light weight shirt in a lovely Kelly green!
Race day morning was VERY organized. Each corral had their own marshal who also served as gear check, monitoring the area where runners could leave their belongings. There was also a porta potty in each corral. That was a nice touch! At the start of the race, each corral marshal lead their group to the start line. Each runner was assigned a number on their bib which corresponded with a number on a cone. Each runner was to stand by the cone and we were brought up 5-7 at a time to start. The elapsed time between starts was about 15-20 seconds per group in the corral. It sounds confusing but it was efficient and worked well.
The scenery is the usual Chicago Lakefront path, up to Foster, down to Fullerton, back to Cricket Hill and finish on the Wilson track. The scenery is my everyday run, but my friends who live out of the city love the view and the path. The course aid stations were great, water, medical and LOTS OF CHEERS!
The hill was at the end, like at mile 9.9. I MF’d the hill the whole way up. I was tired by the end of the run. I had lots of adrenaline, lots of excitement, lots of happiness.
After the race, runners were asked to go to their corrals, get their stuff and leave. No beer:( No music:( but we got to run, which was great!
Thank you to all of the volunteers, CARA, the runners, for such an amazing day.