I ran this half marathon as part of my training for the Chicago Marathon and I figured it sounded like a fun "girl power" race. The race itself is very pricey for the course - the race is around $100 (I think more for 2014) and the course is just the lakefront path in Chicago. The price would be more justifiable if they had to pay to close down streets to run the race, but instead the race was on a trail that was simultaneously open to the public. And if you're a runner in Chicago, you know that the lakefront path is packed in the weekends on the mornings with other fellow runners. I found the course a little annoying for this reason and because the markers were messed up and hard to follow. Several runners ended up running much further than 13.1 due to lack of direction.

The expo was at a nice hotel downtown and was very small but cute and included free tea from a sponsor, Honest Tea. The swag is pretty great for this race - the shirt has a great design and you get nice tote and a yoga mat as well. The post race included wine or champagne from Barefoot, which goes with the girly theme but just isn't something I want to drink early in the morning! They also gave out little lunch boxes, a necklace and Muscle Milk light at the post-race which was nice. Other than that, the post race party wasn't much to brag about. This race might be fun to run with a group of girls if they are interested in running their first half marathon but aren't too serious about time and want a more aesthetic experience - but I feel like more avid runners would prefer a race with better management and course guidance.