Packet pick-up: I had a friend pick mine up for me thus I can’t comment on this! But I know pick-up was held at Fleet Feet which makes it very nice to grab last minute necessities. You could also pick up your stuff on race day if needed.

Swag: You get a hat! You get a hat! You get a hat! I found this super exciting since my dresser is overflowing with race shirts. They even let you pick what color hat you want! This year you could pick red, white and blue or pink, navy and white. If you know me, you know which one I picked! Pink! I was impressed with (1) the fact that we got something other than a shirt, and (2) the quality of the hat. The hat is high quality, soft and very warm! It’s my new go-to running hat. I almost forgot – you also get foam antler ears to wear during the race.

Getting to/from the race: The location of this race is great. It starts and finishes in Lincoln Park right near the nature museum; however, the L doesn’t stop very close BUT you can always catch the bus from the L and get dropped off within a stone’s throw of the race. Or, if you don’t have a lot of gear to carry, the L is still close enough to make the distance your warm-up and/or cool-down.

Race day: My favorite part of this race was the later start time! I don’t love super early morning starts, especially in the winter when it’s cold. I also really like that this race paired with a local children’s hospital to collect toys for the kids! I think it’s awesome that there are races out there that give back to their communities. The course alternated between finely crushed gravel/dirt and pavement. This was great since most races in the city tend to be 100% on pavement or cement. The post race party was nice – Santa was there!!! You could get your picture with him or with the giant inflatable reindeer. There was also a gingerbread man running the race that I was fortunate enough to get a picture with afterwards.

Minus the fact there wasn’t any snow this year, this was a very festive and cheerful race. It’s always nice to continue racing even in the ‘off season’. This race is so well managed I’ll be sure to do it again!

I ran the 8k. There was also a 5k.

Packet pick-up: There was a line of 15+ people waiting to get their packet when I arrived! (WHAT?) Although the line moved quickly (10-15 minute wait) I was annoyed I had to wait for more than 30 seconds given how small this race was. They assigned bib numbers to people when they arrived, rather than in advance – thus leading to the wait. Also, from what I heard, this also caused some people who chose to do packet pick-up on race day to miss the start of the race. Major bummer! The race shirts were a cotton blend of some sort but it fit nicely so I give the shirts a thumbs-up.

Race: They had starting corrals that were spacious and did a wave start with a minute or so between corrals. The first half of the course was on LSD! This was pretty cool and definitely unique for being in the city and for being a smaller shorter race! There was still traffic flowing but there were hundreds, if not thousands of orange cones lining the route. Unfortunately due to my delayed review (it was T-giving weekend!), I don’t remember too much more about the actual race. That must also mean there wasn’t much that stood out for being exceptionally great or exceptionally terrible.

Post-race: There was plenty of activity going on in the post-race area. There were vendors and games. I didn’t stick around very long after the race but I’m sure there was plenty of fun to be had. The original race results that they posted online changed several hours later. I was excited and shocked when I saw the original post because I didn’t think my time was good enough place so well (4th). But when I checked again I had dropped 15 places down to 19th. I was disappointed and a little irritated. I would’ve been okay with my final place had I never thought I placed higher. They should review the information briefly before posting it to the website. (Can you tell I’m still a little annoyed?) (Side note: I just checked the results again and I dropped down to 28th.....)

I was happy I ran this race because it was nice to see friends on a day that for me that is usually reserved for family. It was also conveniently located to where I live (the main reason I picked this race) and not to mention, I had to earn my extra slice of Thanksgiving apple pie somehow! All that being said, I wasn’t wow-ed by this race and chomping at the bit to register for next year. And since there are a handful of other races in the Chicago-land area on Thanksgiving Day next year I’ll have to think twice before deciding to do this one.

Photo: Me and a couple of other FFNRT teammates post race.

I wish every day could be Sunday, October 12, 2014. The Chicago Marathon 2014 did not disappoint! This was my 7th consecutive CM and every year after I cross the finish line, I can’t wait to return the following year.

Everything from registration to the race expo to race day is well organized. I’m always extremely impressed with how smoothly things go. This is definitely a race I highly recommend.

Pros
-Giant race expo with all of the most recent running products. There are always big names doing a Q&A and/or signing autographs. The expo is easy to navigate and you can get in and out very quickly or you can stay all day long! This year I went both Friday late afternoon and Saturday early afternoon. It was definitely less crowded on Friday but still manageable on Saturday.
-For security reasons, only race participants are allowed in start area. I like this because it keeps things from getting too crowded, especially the porta potty lines. 
-The crowd support is spectacular. Not only do they cheer, they have encouraging and often hilarious signs. They are also people often offering shots of beer, candy, popsicles, fruit and more. As much fun as the runners are having, the spectators are having just as much fun! The race wouldn’t be the same without them.
-Fun and fast course with lots of well stocked aid stations.
- There are great recovery drinks/snacks immediately after you cross the finish line -- Goose Island beer, PowerBar protein shakes and bars, Brookside chocolates and more!

Cons
-The race shirt was less than exciting this year which surprised me! They’re always very simple but this year they look like absolutely no effort was put into them. Maybe this was to subconsciously make people buy the other Nike CM apparel.
-In the start corrals the pace leaders have giant plywood signs they hold so you can easily find your group. They then drop the big signs right before the start and historically the pace leaders would then carry small signs during the race to indicate which pace group they were. This year they did not carry the small signs but instead had a pace time on their back. This made it much more difficult to stick with a pace group and to tell which pace group you were approaching.
-There’s amazing crowd support along the entire course; however, for security reasons there is very minimal crowd support as you run the last 0.2 miles of the race. Although I understand their reasoning for not allowing spectators closer to the finish line, I really miss the cheering all the way to the end.

I highly recommend this race to everyone – from those 1st timers to the season vetrans. This race never ceases to amaze me.

Pros –

--I like the shirt this year. It’s soft (!) and the design is simple – nothing flashy, which I prefer. This will probably be a race shirt I actually wear during runs when the weather gets cool enough.
--This race was a part of the 39.3 and 26.2 Chicago half series challenge. The extra medal you get for participating in the series is pretty! As some people commented post-race, they look like stained glass Christmas ornaments. I love collecting race medals (and bib numbers) so the extra medal was definitely an incentive to do this race.
--Surprisingly there are more spectators spread throughout the course than I would expect to see given the less than ideal race location. I think being mostly on LSD, it provided spectators with the opportunity to park along different on/off ramps of the course and cheer. However, don’t get your hopes up – there still aren’t swarms of spectators, but I’ve seen worse.
--It’s a fast course. I don’t know what actually makes a course considered “fast” but LOTS of people I know ran PRs this year. The course is relatively flat. There are a few very gentle inclines/declines due to running up/down on-ramps and on one overpass.

Cons –

--The race expo is held at the Navy Pier which is a wee bit annoying to get to as it’s not right by the El. I drove since it was the quickest option round-trip and arrived right at 9am on Saturday. I didn’t have problems with traffic or finding parking, but $12 (the discounted rate) is still a little much for a quick in/out 10 minute visit.
--I hate the overall location of this race because it’s logistically a nightmare to get to. I was fortunate enough to catch a ride with someone who had purchased the VIP parking pass but even then the parking lot wasn’t open on time. The shuttles that were offered weren’t very convenient to where I live.
--The water cups on the course were plastic. If someone knows how to gracefully drink water from a plastic cup while running, please let me know! This isn’t the first race in Chicago to use plastic.
--I think some of the mile markers were off, including the first mile marker. My watch was never consistently capturing miles ahead, on target or behind. It was all over the place. This makes the race a little more mentally challenging when you’re fatiguing and trying to hit a goal.
--There was a home Bears game at noon on race day. I don’t know which was planned first and it probably wasn’t practical to have either event moved to another date, but better planning would’ve helped relive congested traffic!

Lastly, I’m not certain whether this is a pro or a con – I haven’t made up my mind…. A large portion of the course is an out and back on Lake Shore Drive. It’s nice because you can cheer for your friends who are both ahead and behind you (it helps pass time!) but it’s not so great because out and backs are generally boring.

Overall, the Chicago Half Marathon is a race I’ll do again next year if it fits into my schedule but if I miss it, I'm not going to be upset.

Picture: Me and everyone's favorite, Coach K!