This is one of my favorite races and I've done it every year since 2010. It's a great way to kick-off the Summer racing season. I love that it's Sat AM of the holiday weekend so you can enjoy the rest of Memorial Day.

Race execution is always flawless, plus they always have great shirts and medals! The aid stations are well marked and staffed (thank you gatorade first, water second, in different color cups for those of us that are anal!).

Plus the finish on the 50 can't be beat! It's so easy for family to spectate and meet-up afterwards.

Love the Fleet Feet crew that puts this on.

What an amazing year for an amazing race. Having run the race in 2013, struggled across the course, and was thankfully unaffected by the bombings I was excited to come back to take revenge on the course and celebrate Boston. There's a reason it's known for being the best.

SCENERY - The course, as always, takes you through some adorable towns and neighborhoods. The communities really go all out.

AID STATION - Never went wanting for water between the aid stations every mile and spectators in between handing out water. SO helpful!! The only anal thing is both Gatorade and Polar Spring cups were green! Became harder to distinguish when you're cruising through crowded aid stations.

T-Shirts SWAG: My XS is still a little big (we're runners!), but I will always love the Sam Adams bottle opener

Athlete's village was way more crowded due to the larger field size (which is to be expected). Post-race the walk was grueling to get water/food. Not sure logistically if there are ways to get runners water faster but it was a little agonizing.

The cape this year was amazing. Arm holes were huge, stayed closed with velcro. Definitely made up for the longer walk towards bag check.

Boston will always be special. I'm sure I'll be back at some point =D

What a delight! I needed to get an 8 mi run in so found a 14K in Sydney while I was visiting. A few hundred people between the 14K, 7K and 4K. 14K did 2 loops around the Iron Cove lake. The course was extremely well marked. As a foreigner I was never left wondering where to go which is HUGE. There were some good hills in the mix.

3 aid stations around the loop. My only beef is the plastic cups are hard to drink out of and the garbage cans were so close to the station I couldn't drink and throw away in time!

Coming off a 17-miler the day before I should've been doing a recovery run but you know how these things go. Ended up placing 3rd!

The post-race spread is what every spread should be. Crepes (pancakes as they called them) with nutella, syrup, banana - YES PLEASE! Oh and some refreshing watermelon.

Loved the experience and reco anyone visiting to check out their monthly events!

This was my first time doing the Shamrock Shuffle, but have heard so much about it. It's a tad on the pricey side for a 5-miler if you are used to running Half Marathons or more, but you get a lot out of it.

Expo - Has the feel of a big established marathon since it's put on and sponsored by the same peeps as the Chi Marathon. Loved the expo. Great booths, Good giveaways. AND you don't have the guilt of being on your feet for hours the way you do before a marathon!

Course - Start and Finish of the Chicago marathon so it's fun experiencing those parts of the course.

TShirt - Nice nike fitted shirt. I don't love the white this year (I buy bright colored sports bras which don't do well under white!) but I more happy that it fits well! The other shuffle gear available for purchase was also super cute

Aid Station - Great marking the way they do for the Chi marathon

Course - There was definitely crowding. I probably should've placed myself in an earlier corral but I ran it the day after a final training 20-miler so I thought I'd run it for "fun." I should've know that I would try to speed up so ran into a bunch of pple with lots of bobbing and weaving.

Treat this as a fun run. Don't try to go into it for a PR unless you can get yourself into Corral A. Enjoy the organization and grandeur of a major marathon without the mileage and stress!!