Latest reviews by Martha

(2017)
"Let them eat cake!"
Overall
T-Shirts/SWAG
Aid Stations
Course Scenery
Expo Quality
Elevation Difficulty
Parking/Access
Race Management

Expo/Swag: Packet pick up was at Greenlake Road Runner Sports and was easy enough to get to. They had lots of volunteers and it took 5 minutes tops to get out bags, so that was great. Had an area to buy all sorts of Oatmeal merchandise and I know Matt Innman was signing books at the pickup as well as on both race day. If you're looking for a big expo like they have with other races this is not it, but that's not a big deal for me. It's at running store so if you do have any last minute things to you can support the local running store.
Inside the bags were gummy snacks (delicious), a “I beat the Blerch” bumper sticker, a mini beat the blerch stress ball, and the race shirts. I cannot say how much I love the race shirts! Black 3/4 zip long sleeve made out of tech fabric with a big ol’ blerch on the back! Also liked out it specified which distance you ran. A friend of mine who ran it in 2016 said the shirts were just regular cotton t-shirts so they’ve definitely upped the quality this year!

Parking/Transportation: The race was in Carnation, WA which was about a 35-40min drive from Seattle. We came in from out of town so we just rented a zipcar to get there. Easy enough place to get to and had no problems with parking. I know there were parking passes you could buy but we just parked in the recommended free area (field) and maybe walked 1/4 mile to the race area. Super easy to get in and out.

Pre-Race Area: Race started/ended at a camp ground area so there was plenty of room for everyone there. They had same day packet pick up (quite a long line but still an option). Also had a bag drop off area that you didn’t have to have any kind of special race specific bag for, they just put a tag that corresponds with your bib number. They also had pre-race burritoughnuts which believe it or not were quite tasty! Also had people dressed as the Blerch to take pictures with and passing out marshmallows covered in chocolate sauce and bacon. They really were over the top with the amount of food and it was amazing.

Course: SO FLAT IT WAS AMAZING! First 0.5 miles or so was on a black asphalt trail that then turned into a loose gravel trail for the rest of the route. The first bit of trail had me nervous because it was quite loose and could be easy to roll an ankle but it transitioned to packed dirt pretty quickly. I’ve lived in the midwest for most of my life which is pretty flat and void of any kind of trees other than the occasional shelter belt so this course was AMAZING. You’re always surrounded by trees and other greens and it was just absolutely gorgeous. The course is out and back so it’s flat all the way along. My friend felt like it was a slight incline out but I honestly couldn’t tell. There were aid stations at mile 3, 6, 7, 10, and a last water stop around mile 12 or so. The first three stations all came equipped with water, “electrolyte water” (not gatorade or really super flavorful of anything but still nice), cake (DELICIOUS), nutella sandwiches, and GU. More importantly they also had couches to relax on and more people dressed up to take pictures with.

Post-Party: Same area as pre-race but with more cake, nutella sandwiches, burritoughnuts, and potato chips. There were also vendors there for cliff bar, some sort of protein milk that was delicious, and others that I can’t remember. Also the medals had the Blerch on them which was great.

Final Thoughts: Honestly this was probably the most fun I’ve had at a race. It was incredibly chill and everyone was super nice! We all were just there to be fatty’s while also being miserable while running. The volunteers were all very helpful and I think this will be the only race I run were they encourage you to take it easy at each aid station! If I lived in the area I would definitely run this every year. Heck, even living halfway across the country I still want to come back next year!

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(2015)
"Great for 1st timers!"
Overall
T-Shirts/SWAG
Aid Stations
Course Scenery
Expo Quality
Elevation Difficulty
Parking/Access
Race Management

Expo/Swag: The expo is at McCormick place on the south side which can kind of be a bugger to get too, but isn't too out of the way. I got there right away on Saturday and as soon as you enter they were handing out posters for the race. Then I waited maybe 5 minutes to get through the line to check in. From there they give you a number to go to and someone had already grabbed my bib packet, so it was a very fast process. From there you go to a different stall to get your shirt/swag bag and that was pretty quick too since each stall was separated by gender and shirt size. I didn't stay too long at the expo but I did stop by the Asics and Nike spots. Everyone there was super friendly and willing to give advice about running for the first time. It was just a great positive atmosphere in the entire building. The shirt this year is a red nike shirt with Bank of America Chicago Marathon in white letters. I love it! In most shirts I wear a S or a M (5'9, 140) but I sized up to a L just to be safe and I'm glad I did because I think they run a little small.

Parking/Transportation: Since I live in the city I took the CTA to get to Grant park on race day. Due to past issues with train delays on other races my roommates and I left at 4:30 just to be on the safe side. We were able to get downtown in 45 minutes (normal travel time) which I was amazed by. We may have just beat the rush, but the city really seemed to have stepped up for the day. I'm sure it did get busier as the start time got closer but it all seemed much more organized than for past events.

Pre-Race area: As soon as you entered the race area there were a couple of the bag drop off areas, hydration tents, changing areas, and racing supplies. The bag check places were well organized and I didn't have to wait at all to drop off or to pick up later on. The racing supplies had sun screen, extra safety pins, and vaseline for people to use as well just in case you had forgotten anything. There were tons of port-a-potties around as well to use.

Course: AMAZING! I've done races in downtown Chicago before but I don't think I'll ever get over how gorgeous it is. You start out running through the heart of downtown into the streeterville area. Then once you get onto LaSalle you take that all the way North to lake view east. Once you get back to the loop they take you west out by the United Center then you slowly make your way down to China Town. Although I was ready to die at that point, I will say that that portion was probably one of my favorites. Then they keep sending you south for the final loop until you turn onto Michigan to head back to Grant park. All in all, it's a beautiful course that takes you through 29 different neighborhoods and really shows how different each area of Chicago is. They said there were 20 aid stations but I swear it felt like there was one every mile at least. It never felt like I had to wait too long for anything. All stations had gatorade and water, some had wet sponges and vaseline and then later on they had bananas. A lot of churches and other groups set up impromptu stations as well with pretzels, wet wipes, and tissues. Pretty much the entire course was lined with spectators so even if you didn't know anyone there were tons of people to cheer you on. Port a potties were around about every 3 miles or so and one church in Old Town even opened it's doors to runners. Elevation wise it's pretty dang flat. There are a few inclines over bridges and what not but very minimal. I will say that the the final 400 ft (if even) feet before turning to run to the finish line are up a bridge that I swear never ended but that was probably just because it was right at the end. All in all it's a fast course so it's good for beginners like me or people trying to break a PR.

Post-Party: At the end you get your medal of course (this year had the bean on it), a nice cold gatorade protein shake (chocolate or vanilla), a goodie bag of snacks from Marianos, bananas, and if your over 21 a yellow 312 from Goose Island. I honestly was too tired to walk all the way to the post race so I skipped it but they did have free massages available.

Final thoughts: This was my first marathon and I honestly could not have asked for a better experience. Everyone was incredibly nice and just wanted to make sure you were ok. I stopped a couple of times to stretch on the side of the road and each time either a spectator or a fellow racer checked up on me to make sure I was ok. All of the volunteers were super helpful and all in all it was just a great experience. I would totally recommend it to anyone interested in running a marathon!

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(2014)
"Hot Chocolate Chicago"
Overall
T-Shirts/SWAG
Aid Stations
Course Scenery
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Elevation Difficulty
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Race Management

Expo/Swag: The expo was at McCormick place so it was pretty easy to get to. Considering how many people were there, the wait time was pretty great...in that there wasn't one! I was able to get my bib and bag right away! They have a try on section where you can make sure the hoodie you ordered fits and if not you can swap it out which was really nice. Although be warned that they don't guarantee that they'll have the size you want to swap out for. The zip-ups are dark grey with pink (womens)/green (mens) lining and are super soft on the inside. I'm a big fan of them! They're light weight but still keep you pretty warm. The expo was in a separate room and honestly I wasn't all that impressed. It was SUPER congested and hard to move around. Also I usually buy my GU products at the expo and none of the vendors had any. As guessed they do give out cups of hot cocoa and chocolate dipped marshmallows.

Parking/Access: The race starts and ends in Grant park so it's really easy to get to. I took the L and was again pretty disappointed. At the station they said that they had extra trains running to accommodate for the race and we had to wait for about 15 mins and the people on the platform said that they had been waiting for at least 10-15 mins as well. This really messed with our timing and we almost missed getting into our corral. We could have drove and paid $20 for parking but that just seems crazy to me, but if that's your thang do it!

Race area: There were a TON of port-a-potties around gate 2 (where the 15k bag check was). I didn't have to wait at all for one which was nice. Also they had a lot of people helping at the bag check so I only had to wait a minute or two for that. However, since the L was late we were late and didn't get our stuff dropped off until 6:40 which only gave us 5 minutes to get to our corral before it closed (we were in wave 1). We sprinted to the edge of the park and reached the entrance but it was PACKED full of people trying to get in though the small bottle neck. We finally got to our right corral and then got to wait for our wave to go (we were in the last section so we didn't start until 7:40). Also if you're interested in switching corrals it's pretty easy to move around and since there were so many people there it was pretty easy for people to just move up corrals if they wanted to.

Race Course: My biggest disappointment with this is that they start the 15k and 5k-ers at the same time so everyone is mixed in the corrals. This makes absolutely NO sense to me because as soon as we started we had to weave around people and pretty much had to do that until we split from them at mile 3. Since they already have two waves leave I don't understand why they don't separate the distances. As for the actual course I LOVED the first two miles. The first mile is run on lower Wacker (I pretended like I was in Batman the whole time it was great) and then the second mile you're running right through downtown. Then you mostly follow Michigan south for a couple of miles and then weave your way up N by the lake front. After mile 5 there are about 3-4 u-turns that I personally hate but oh well, they're there. They have aid stations at mile 1, 4, 5, and 7 and also have marshmallows at mile 4, 7 and tootsie rolls at 5 I believe. Another part I didn't like was that around mile 7 you run in the parking area of McCormick place and after being outside it was like running in pitch darkness. I could tell that the floor was un-even in areas but not enough to know where to run so I felt like I was high-steppin' it the whole time. The finish is also kind of weird because for the last mile you're running along a fairly narrow path and then all of a sudden you reach the end stretch and it's just HUGE! There are areas for spectators but only behind a chain-link fence (I'm assuming for security reasons) so it's kind of hard to find people who might be cheering for you. In the shoot just past the finish there is water, gatorade and ice available. I thought the race was huge and never ending but my friend said it didn't seem to long so I could have just been dreaming that. Also the 15k-ers got a pretty heavy medal that was shaped like a chocolate bar which was pretty nice. They definitely spend some change on the medals this year.

Post-Race: Bag pick-up was incredibly fast again and then you make a bit of a walk to the North side of the park to get to where they have the food. You get this massive plastic bowl/mug thing that comes with hot chocolate, a banana, rice krispy treat, wafers, pretzels and some chocolate dip. The line to get that was also super fast. They needed WAY more garbages though because there was garbage allll over the place!

Overall I thought the race was just kind of meh. There were SO many people that crowd control was basically non-existent. The one nice thing is that they had plenty of volunteers so there were practically no lines for anything. I liked the zip-ups but I don't know if the whole experience was worth the $70 I had to pay for it. I would say do it once just to say you've done it because just about everyone has at least heard of it, also it has some beautiful views of the skyline as you run North.

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(2014)
"Fast course"
Overall
T-Shirts/SWAG
Aid Stations
Course Scenery
Expo Quality
Elevation Difficulty
Parking/Access
Race Management

This was my first time running the Chicago Half and overall I had a really good time.
Expo/Swag: The expo is at Navy Pier which is easy enough to get to via CTA but it was PACKED with tourists which was kind of annoying. However it's Navy Pier so it's to be expected. The expo was smaller than I thought it would be but there was a good mix of vendors. I was able to get my bag pretty quickly and everyone working was pretty friendly. I really liked the long sleeve shirts (dark grey with orange/red writing). I have so many short sleeves so I like getting long sleeves. The finishers medals were also nice, very sturdy.

Parking: I am a little crazy about getting to the course early and I didn't know how traffic would be so we left SUPER early. Traffic wasn't bad so we got there pretty quick. We were able to find a parking spot along the mall by U Chicago for free and only walked maybe a half mile to the race area. There was also parking at the museum but we didn't want to pay $20 to park, but that is another option. You can also use the shuttle that the race provides but you need to pay $15 for that.

Course: The course is nice and flat so it's great if you're trying for a new PR. There are a lot of runners but the streets are wide enough that I didn't feel like I was constantly running into people. They have corrals but they don't really enforce you being in the one you signed up for. I originally was in H but I started in J with a friend of mine. There were a lot of aid stations and they were pretty evenly spread out so I didn't ever feel like I was dying to get more water. Also there were at least 6 port-a-potties at each aid station and I didn't notice anyone having to wait to use one during the race. The course is mostly along the lakefront so you have some nice scenery to look at which was nice. We also lucked out and the weather was PERFECT! One thing I should mention is that the distance that they had marked was off from what my app said. Each mile was marked about 200-300 m after what my app said and I heard people around me saying the same. However at the end it showed me running 13.3 and my friends said 13.5 (I use Nike+ and she uses Map My Run).

Post-Party: You get a free beer (Michelob, yuck) and pizza. I can't eat a lot right after a run so I didn't get anything but they are there if you're interested. They also hand out bananas, granola bars, Lays potato chips, and gatorade (red, orange, and yellow) in the shoot after the finish.

Overall this was a fun race to run and was really well organized. I would definitely recommend it to first time half runners and people who are looking for a fast time.

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