Those of us who have run this race in the past realize that the 27-mile marathon isn't a one-time snafu. The race has been poorly organized since its inception. The course is spectacular and the time of day is invigorating. It is mind boggling how Mr. Cihlar can screw this race up so badly each year. Keep the race and lose the organizer!

Tried this race again based on RD commitments to improve. What did we get? An extra mile, missing aid stations, poorly marked course, no course info in advance of the race, no mile markers, etc., etc.
Time for new management since Chicago still needs a spring marathon.

This was my first marathon, so I wasn't sure what to expect. I was frustrated that there were no maps provided. I thought the course markings were adequate only because I run along the lakefront almost every day and know my way around it. I brought my own water, which lasted me about halfway through the race, and I'm familiar with where the water fountains are located along the lake, otherwise I would have had a real problem with the unmanned aid stations. I'm disappointed to find that the course was too long, but I guess this means that my next marathon time in the fall will turn out a lot better. I'm not sure I'll run it again - I probably will look for another spring marathon somewhere else.

OK, OK, I admit I didn't run the marathon or even the halfer. I ran the 5K, but believe me, even that short race had problems.

I believe this course was mismarked. The first mile seemed right, but the second mile a bit far. And after hitting the third mile, I am sure we ran another 1/2 mile or so, but it was definitely not a tenth of a mile.

Also, the 5K was originally scheduled for Saturday, May 28. So I began contacting the organization a few weeks prior to find out about bib pick-up and start time. I never got a response back.

But I did get a general email on Friday, May 27, one day before the 5K was scheduled, stating that it was rescheduled to Monday. Thanks for the early notice, Mark Cihlar.

I really appreciate the spectators. They did a good job. I'm sure Mark had nothing to do with that.

There is no excuse for the extra mile! For me and others, it was several extra miles because the route was so poorly marked. On the return route, I took a wrong turn in the Navy Pier area that had no markings whatsoever.

There were not enough aid stations, and never enough volunteers. You should be able to drink on the run.

This was my second year of running Lakeshore and I expected improvement. Instead, this year's race was far worse. I am telling my fellow runners to avoid this marathon at all costs!

I wondered about the distance when trying to review my lap times on my watch. Missing mile markers made accurate review impossible, but I'm kind of happy to know I can run 27.2 miles -- the farthest I've ever run!! Disappointing, I'm sure, for those trying to qualify for Boston -- I'm not one of those. Ran it last year and enjoyed the beautiful course so much that I wanted to run it again. Lovely scenery throughout. I like the small numbers that run it -- more of a laid-back marathon, less stressful. What a great way to spend Memorial Day weekend -- visitng Chicago and then running on Memorial Day. Please offer it again next year.

A 27.2-mile marathon? The organizer says there were some problems, I'll say. I won't pile on, but I do expect my money back. Don't waste your time running this one.

Miserable - One word to summarize my overall experience of this race. I had a strong suspicion that the race was going to be disorganized after reading reviews on this website and sadly they were all very, very confirmed this past Monday.

I'll break it down to why almost everyone who ran it was so disappointed with the race.

- The race director just sent us all an email confirming what we all suspected. The course was actually 27.1 miles - not 26.2 miles. We all did an extra mile. This is absolutely inexcusable. For this one reason I never plan to run this marathon and will strongly discourage anyone else from doing it. I mean, come on, this isn't even their first year. This is their fifth time running this marathon. Inexcusable. They couldn't even get the distance correct.

- Mile markers - How hard is it to spray paint a mile marker into the course? Conveniently after mile 23, 24/25/26 were missing. My sister, who ran the half marathon, said there weren't any mile markers after mile 6.

- Directions - The course was poorly designed. The people running the water stations didn't even know what to do. There was no map, so my girlfriend, who was hoping to meet me up in certain areas of the race, couldn't figure it out. Certainly, none of us runners could either.

-Course layout - The turn-about for the full marathon was at Bryn Mawr. There were parts where they told us to run circles in the middle of nowhere to just use miles so we wouldn't run through Navy Pier when we turned south. Overall - poorly designed. There is no sense of direction in the course design.

- No spectators - I ran the Chicago and to compare the two... well, there is no comparison. Aside from an occasional water station group cheering us on, no one was out there. There was no advertising, no notices at all along the lakeshore. People running or biking the path thought we were running on our own. Bikers were whizzing past me, several giving me dirty looks. I was like, dude, I'm running a marathon.

- Water stations - The director just sent us an email that admitted that two water stations were deserted. There was a mix-up in communication so two water stations weren't posted. I could count at least five water stations I passed by that had no people posted and where the water was completely gone.

You can't ask for a more scenic course and the weather turned out perfect. I am wondering if the local running community and city of Chicago give the support that this race needs. Perhaps they are all about the big fall marathon but it seems like a city like Chicago could easily support two annual marathons. Still, that doesn't excuse some of the mistakes, mainly the fact that the course was a mile or more too long! The other big mistake was that many of the mile markers were MIA. I thought there were enough water stops and friendly and helpful volunteers. I don't mind that some of the stops were self-service. I do hope that this race gets the support it needs because it has great potential!

This was my 13th marathon. I had never been to Chicago. What a beautiful course it was! I am in the Air Force and so appreciated the tribute to the military prior to the race. There was a lot of heart and effort that went into making this a great day! It WAS a great day despite some of the shortfalls! Thank you for everything!