LOVED my experience at Chicago. I was able to set a PR. The atmosphere is like nothing I've experienced (up to this point in 2012). I felt relatively good the whole time, posting a negative split on the race! Awesome pace groups to run with. Aid stations are the best I've ever seen and finish line organization is fantastic. A must-do!

The T-shirt is nothing to write home about as you pay a more to get a tech t (which I don't need), otherwise you get a gray t-shirt with the RBR logo on it. Mine was like a Men's XL for some reason.

25k is an odd distance as it is more than a 1/2 marathon, but not really close to a marathon. The course winds through Grand Rapids and out to the city limits along the river. There really are no spectators, except at major intersections, so it is actually quite peaceful. I can't remember much else, except that they had pretty good pace groups!

Loved Soldier Field 10. Really well organized by Mark Colpoys of Fleet Feet Sports - Chicago. Finishing on the 50 at SF was fun - even though I am a Packer fan. The t-shirt was ok, but they make up for it in other areas!

My first Shuffle experience was great. It was fun to run through the streets of Chicago with 35000 other folks. The Expo was great, as always, but the shirt was a let-down. I believe it was a red Nike shirt with a weird shamrock on it. No thanks!

Getting into the corrals was easy and it seemed very organized!

For my first marathon, I appreciated that Eric and Dave ran with me the entire time. Weather can't be controlled, but it was sunny and rainy off and on - which ended up being ok! The T-shirts were only OK - Green Layer brand. The course scenery was fantastic as it boarders all of the lakes!