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The Chicago Marathon is one of the seven World Marathon Majors, and I was lucky enough to qualify for guaranteed entry this year before the qualifying times changed. You can read my race report for my full experience here.
It was an amazing experience, and I would definitely run the race again.
I love the course layout - which starts and ends downtown at Millenium Park. There are a ton of hotels downtown within walking distance of the start. I stayed at the Sheraton Grand Chicago Riverwalk, and I had a fifteen minute walk to the start in the morning. The finish isn't far from the start, either, so my wife could get there easily and we could stumble back to the hotel after the race.
The crowds were superb. Throughout downtown, there were thick crowds cheering us on. Spectators would often read the team name on my singlet and yell, "Go Essex!" There were other runners around me with their names on their shirts, and you could hear spectators call them out by name. Although the crowds thinned out the farther you got from downtown, there was never a quiet or dull moment along the course.
The course itself is nice and flat. It has very mild rolling hills. I never seemed to notice the inclines, and I always seemed to be going slightly downhill. It's a great course for a PR.
The weather, unfortunately, is hit or miss. It's not Chicago's fault, but this is probably the one thing to be wary of. The year I ran, it was hot on Friday (like in the 80's), warm on race day (high 50's, low 60's), and cold and windy on Monday. Yes, you have a good shot at cold weather. But you could just as easily end up with a warm or a hot day. So manage your expectations accordingly.
Some people complained that the course was crowded throughout the entire race. For me - starting in Corral C and targeting ~3:00 - that wasn't the case. It was tight for the first couple of miles, and there were always plenty of other runners nearby, but after three or four miles we could spread out and maneuver. If you're closer to 4:00-4:30, you may have a different experience.
I aspire to run all of the majors, but frankly I dread the logistics of getting to the start/finish of races like New York and Boston. One of the best things about Chicago was that, with the proper hotel choice, I could walk to the start and walk home from the finish.
If there was one downside to the Chicago Marathon, it was the start logistics. They did a good job, considering the size of the event. But there were still problems.
I studied the map of the starting area, and I was able to get through security quickly. It literally took seconds to go through into the secure area. I got in a little after 6:15, and I spent less time waiting on line than I did at Philly. I didn't realize my corral was so far from the start, and I made the mistake of taking some time to jog a quick warm up and do some strides. But I still made it to my start corral by 6:45.
The most problematic part was the lines at the porta-potties. There was a huge bank of them early on, but closer to the starting corrals there were giant lines waiting for relatively few porta-potties. I got on line before 6:45, thinking 30 minutes was enough time. Yeah right. We all nervously looked at each other as we slowly got closer ... but not close enough. If you have to use the bathroom, go early.
The race started at 7:30, and the corrals were supposed to close at 7:15. When I got there, a large crowd of runners couldn't actually fit into Corral C. We were held outside until the race started, but we were allowed to fill in once the other corrals started. This was a very stressful point for the runners in the porta-potty lines, because the announcer repeatedly said that if you weren't in the start corral 15 minutes ahead of the start you'd have to wait until the end of your wave to start. Thankfully, this wasn't really the case.
The porta-potty situation was so problematic that people were relieving themselves on the fence near the porta-potties. A lot of them were men, but I saw at least one small group of women taking turns shielding each other while somebody crouched near the fence.
Once the race started, though, things moved smoothly. There was a gap in between each corral, and they held Corral C for two to three minutes after Corral B started. As a result, the course was crowded, but not that crowded. It actually opened up within a couple minutes, and we had some room to move around. From the moment we crossed the start line, the race was amazing.
The finish line was a well choreographed machine.
From the moment we crossed, we went through an assembly line - medals, blankets, water, food, beer. Along the way, there were plenty of photographers waiting to capture the experience. I'd pre-paid for all of the digital downloads, and I'm glad I did. There were plenty of race pictures, and I stopped throughout the finish whenever I saw another photographer.
There was a large area with Goose Island beers being handed out. It was so nice to grab an oversized can of beer and sip on that while I hobbled out of the finish area. I heard they ran out of beer towards the end, and that's disappointing. But for the early finishers at least, it was great.
My wife had a little trouble finding me at the finish. But once we got to the same area, relocation was pretty easy. There were food trucks and additional beer tents at the finish area. I enjoyed the vibe for an hour or so before we hobbled back to the hotel.
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