It's no surprise that I would like the Lakefront 10 Miler -- the course coincides about 75% with where I do my training runs, and the Chicago lakefront is beautiful every time I run along it. I also thought the organizers did a great job alternating between the main Lakefront Trail and smaller paths to avoid crowding, and a long stretch in the park just west of Lakeshore Drive made a nice change of scenery. They even managed to include a sizeable hill! So I have only good things to say about the course.

But I have only bad things to say about pre-race communications and relations. There were very few email updates in the weeks and days leading up to the race, and what emails there were, were not clear about packet pickup and other information. I noticed in one of the final emails that somehow the organizers included opening and closing time for gear check, but not the start time of the race itself! Come on, guys. Obviously, I figured it out, but it was stressful, annoying, and unprofessional. Plus, there was no map anywhere on the website, so I had no idea what the course actually was until I ran it (which meant I didn't know about that hill! ugh). And, finally, when my boyfriend went to pick up my packet, he said they were rude to him!

I feel bad being so negative, because I would still recommend this race as the race itself is so good (and the race day experience was good). But I sincerely hope the organizers do a better job next year.