Soooo....I signed up for this race on a whim. I should have checked out the course map before signing up because it was not thought out well. It ran north from Grant Park after circling around itself for the first 1-2 miles. It ran on lower Lake Shore Drive and didn't have crossing guards at the stop lights by Navy Pier. Someone had a health issue while heading north near Ohio St Beach and the entire group had to stop to let the ambulance on the course. What a mess! The course then headed up to Lincoln Park and turned around somewhere north of North Ave and came back on its confusing self.

Cool experience to run the Chicago Rock and Roll again after moving to the city about a month before.

My 4th attempt at breaking the 2 hour mark for the 1/2. I was successful, but not without problems. The 2:00 pacer didn't show up in my corral - which was really disappointing as I forgot my watch at home! I relied on some gal to pace me for the first 2 miles and then ditched her (sorry!). Luckily the course had timers every 5k or so, so I could mentally calculate my pace. I surprised myself and finished in 1:51!

My second experience running the Firecracker 5k. My experience was the same as the previous year.

Probably the best part of the course is the slight downhill into the finish area! Post-race highlight is PIE!

I don't think there was a T-shirt option for this race which was a real miss. They gave away throw-away gloves with little runner hearts on them. As always, love running near the lakes in Madison!