We had great weather for the second straight year for F3. Expo was well organized at RoadRunner Sports and multiple packet pickup spots around Chicagoland was nice! Parking is close but tends to backup a bit, especially if you're in the north garage. There's plenty of room to warmup and the United Club pre/post race area is great. There's lots of portopotties outside which I may use instead of waiting for one of the 2 (?) bathroom areas inside. Race is organized by pace time without corrals - buts it's small enough to self-manage. People seemed pretty honest about pace, too.
The race:
With a spring marathon on the horizon, I was using F3 for a marathon-paced training run. We got a good warmup in before the start and headed to the corral. This course winds around Soldier Field to the north before becoming an out-and-back on the southern part of the LST. Aid stations were approx every mile to two miles. They were not set up identically and volunteers were not super consistent with verbalizing what they had. The south end turnaround probably gets very congested for pace group between 8-11min/mi. The path is narrow and there's little shoulder available in the winter with the snow and ice. There's lots of good stuff after the finish, but a bag would be nice to carry the swag. Again, the United Center is such a warm (literally) welcome after this winter half. If you drive, don't leave the garage to the north. You get stuck looping out towards the planetarium and are forced to head back south of the field. Just go south.
Overall a good race, but a little disappointed with the finisher hats (quality - it's already pilling without wear and the stitching is coming out) and the lack of shirts due to shipping issues. Will probably be back next year - very few half opps during the winter.

If you're looking for a challenging Thanksgiving Day race (longer than a 5k), check out Highland Park. This pretty competitive, "small" (approx 1,000 10k participants) race has some decent rollers with a moderate climb to the finish line. It's a large loop around the neighborhood of Highland Park. The course is well-marked with 2 aid stations along the way. Post race pies and coffee or hot chocolate really set the holiday mood. It starts at 730 (5k) and 810 (10k) so you can get home in plenty of time to make stuffing or whatever :)
This was my first 10k ever and it was quickly evident I have no idea how to manage this distance. Going out like a 5k is not recommended. I had to pull off to the side of the course to dry-heave a couple times (lactic threshold) but managed to get back and finish decently strong. I'm VERY excited to give this distance another "go" next year!
Happy holidays, all!!

I had heard some great things about this 5k from lots of the Fleet Feet Racing Team so I thought I'd check it out this year. If you register early enough, you can customize your bib, too! I was El Korpedo (Korean Torpedo). This is one of the quickest 5k courses in the city with minimal turns and long straightaways. Most of the wind was blocked and the rain held off for most of the race. The start was sort of abrupt; No ready, set, go...just a Ready and a horn I think...
I haven't raced a 5k since April and 3 week out from the Chicago Marathon, I really didn't know what my legs could do. I settled in w/ some teammates and just kind of let it fly. The crowd support, even with the weather, was pretty decent. I'm sure with sunnier skies, we would have had more people on the course.
One of the big draws for this race is the sugar skull awards. Apparently a much faster field showed up in my AG this year, but I had my best showing for a race and cut my PR by 50 seconds. I would definitely do this again - it such a unique area of the city to run through; check it out next year for sure!

Heading into CM15, I wasn't really sure what to expect. I was less than a month removed from Ironman Wisconsin, and although my legs felt fresh, I didn't know if I could push them through this race. I planned to settle in around the 3:05 group and see what happened. As luck would have it, my nerves got the best of me and I ended up shoulder to shoulder with Sascha (best running bro) right ahead of the 3:00 pace group. In my head, I thought there was a chance, and would feel better about the race if I went for it. I could always drop back if I wasn't feeling it.
We headed out a little hot, with our first 5k about 10sec under pace goal. We kept talking back and forth about slowing but I'm not sure if it actually happened, or if we were just observing that it wasn't happening. Around mile 8, we ran into our buddy Matt who was using this race as a prep for NYC. He said he'd pace us through the end. Our splits over the next 30k were all within 3sec of goal and while we were both thinking it, but not talking about it, we thought sub3 was a realistic goal. Around 19 I started tightening up a bit, but knew if I could push through for 7 more miles, it would all be worth it. We made the turn on to Mich Ave and with less than 3 miles to go, this dream was about to become a reality. I slowed a bit heading to the last mile, but knew I had plenty of time to cross the line. As I came around the Columbus corner, I thought about this entire season, all the struggles, triumphs, training, friendships...all wrapped into the last crazy 9 months. I slowed as a crossed the line, throwing my arms in the air, trying to savor every moment. 2:57:25. Still can't believe it 3 days later. I couldn't have gotten there without Matt and Sascha - each of us pushing one another til the end.
This race will always be something special. It's in my city, and one of the best organized races in the world. If you haven't, come run Chicago. You won't be disappointed. From a flawlessly run expo, to great race management, you're bound to have the best prerace and raceday experience you can!!

This is my fifth year running SF10 and definitely the most enjoyable. Pre-race, I decided to run w/ Sascha and try to help him PR. I knew we had a little tailwind heading back north so we didn't go all out through the first 5. We picked it up at the turn around and ended up negative splitting by at least a minute. This is a great course for this strategy if the weather cooperates. We ended up picking off quite a few people and I was super stoked to help a friend out. Ended up just 7 seconds off my PR from the year before so very happy, especially with less speed/distance training this year.
This was also my wife's longest run/race ever so I was super proud of her for coming in a few minutes under her time goal! Next stop, Steelhead 70.3 for her!
Regarding the race: flat course w/ a couple rollers, well-marked aid stations, decent crowd support on course (great at the finish), nice race swag after (I like that they give you a bag w/ everything in it instead of holding 10 clif bars and bananas after a race), and a great post-race party.
If you're on the FF Racing Team or doing the CES Spring Training, the team tent is fantastic!