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May 7, 2024

Last Chance BQ.2 Chicagoland Marathon Runner Comments

Back to Last Chance BQ.2 Chicagoland Marathon Information & Reviews

Course 4.7

Organization 4.9

Spectators 4.6

Number of comments: 92 [displaying comments 21 to 31]

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A. M. from IL (9/16/2021) "2nd time running this race. Great experience." (about: 2021) 11-50 previous marathons \| 2 Last Chance BQ.2 Chicagoland Marathons COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 Well organized race. If you're looking to qualify for Boston, this is the race to run. Great support from pacers, spectators and other runners. Great support on the course with three options for hydration and a station for gels. The course is flat and on a 3.2mile(ish) loop. Don't be discouraged by the loop as it disappears. Everytime I've run it, that has been my experience. Great race. Looking forward to 2022!
S. K. from North Attleboro, MA (9/15/2021) "Absolutely awesome race!" (about: 2021) 3 previous marathons \| 1 Last Chance BQ.2 Chicagoland Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 I was completely impressed with this race. It was done so well. The race staff was patient, kind, and so organized. There was wonderful support along the course from race staff to spectators and the "race village" was simple yet had everything. It was an easy in and out to start and after the finish. The loops did not become daunting and effort was made to make the race as personal as possible for each runner. Definitely worth a shot!
S. H. from Sun Prairie, WI (9/25/2019) "No Pacers for my age group" (about: 2019) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Last Chance BQ.2 Chicagoland Marathon COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 1 FANS: 5 I was super disappointed in this race. I was hoping to have support by the pacers, but there wasn't one running anything close to what I wanted. I assumed there would be a 3:45 or 3:44 pace group, but there was only a 3:39 (way too fast) and a 3:49 (too slow). Needless to say I didn't qualify for Boston. Will never do it again.
L. H. from Chicago, IL (9/25/2019) "17th marathon done and one of the best" (about: 2019) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Last Chance BQ.2 Chicagoland Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 I've done 6 Chicago, 4 Boston, 3 Madison, 2 Chicagoland, Erie (PA), and now LCBQ2! It's one of the best. No nonsense, easy to check in, bathrooms, start, etc all very easy. The loops are straightforward and mostly shady. Lots of water stops and having your own drink stop is so great! Also since they hand out gels at each loop you don't have to weigh yourself down carrying a ton of gels, always my problem in the marathon! The course is narrow so you don't waste crucial steps and it's easy to run the tangents. Only ran .1 extra compared to the .4-.5 extra I run in Chicago It's a quiet and peaceful course when you need it but cheering and spectators when you do. You can really get in the zone mentally which is important to me. I ran with the 3:49 pace group. They were excellent. I stayed with them until mile 20. I chatted a bit with all of them and they were really helpful, checking in with us, inspiring us, etc. At mile 20, I surged ahead - glad I ran conservatively for the first 20 because the sun did start to get warm. Dropped down to about an 8:20-25 pace to close out the race strong! Yes, I trained well at 60-72 miles a week average with speed work, tempos and hills, so I felt well-prepared, but starting slow and not hitting the wall helped me get a BQ with a 3 minute + cushion. A good strategy is to stay with the pacers until 20 and then break away. Those that didn't kind of burned out and I passed a lot of people. I would definitely do this again. The finish area food is just fine, nothing to write home about, but who cares? I was riding high on my BQ! I'd definitely do this race again.
J. F. from MA (9/25/2019) "Incredible pacers." (about: 2019) 6-10 previous marathons \| 1 Last Chance BQ.2 Chicagoland Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 Really loved the whole marathon experience from start to finish.
L. T. from CT (9/25/2019) "Flat, Fast BQ course" (about: 2019) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Last Chance BQ.2 Chicagoland Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 3 Great race!! Well organized & course was as advertised: flat & fast. Can't say enough about pacers. I ran with the 3:50 group, which meant they were targeting a 3:49 & they were spot on. There seemed to be a natural flow that some parts of the loop were faster/slower than others but overall pace was perfect. After a couple loops I just checked out and ENJOYED the run!!! I am usually checking my watch at every mile marker, trying to bank some time, etc. But, the pacers were SO good that I just enjoyed running in our group. At the 1/2 we were 20sec ahead of pace & stayed right there. Everyone - race organizers, pacers, volunteers and runners could not have been friendlier or nicer. I flew out here to BQ and did and would not hesitate to go back. Oh and the elite hydration tables were awesome. I usually slosh gatorade up my nose & all over myself trying to get a precious couple gulps down. Having my own water bottle available each loop? Heaven!! I actually drank my Gatorade instead of decorating myself with it! Loop course allowed ample hydration stations and crowd support. Initially I was dreading passing the finish line on each loop but it was great - lots of crowd support and many 'shout outs' over the PA to individual runners and pace groups. Overall, I highly recommend this marathon.
Melanie Mathewson from Springfield, IL (9/25/2019) "Every Runners Dream Course" (about: 2019) 2 previous marathons \| 1 Last Chance BQ.2 Chicagoland Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 This race was so well organized which was a huge help in keeping my race day nerves down. The course was fairly flat and the perfect amount of scenic to keep my mind occupied for the mental battle it takes to run a marathon. Although I was taken down on mile 23 by a torn MCL (bummer), I will definitely be back at this race for many years to come! All around great race!!
L. K. from NYC (9/15/2019) "Amazing race!!" (about: 2019) 3 previous marathons \| 1 Last Chance BQ.2 Chicagoland Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 Really, really loved this race. The organizers were fantastic. The course was flat and easy. The race was run like a top marathon - even though there were only 300 participants. I have only ever run the NYC marathon before, and so I can't stress enough how well this race was organized. SO many things can go wrong, and it can be hard to get everything right with only 300 people paying to participate. But BQ2 did! Bathrooms were accessible; there were 16 water stops total; everything went smoothly. The eight loops meant you had pretty constant support from fans, too. Due to construction, a last minute change had to be implemented, and BQ2 got that done and kept the course as an official qualifier. Can't imagine how stressful that must have been, so thank you thank you for everything! My one suggestion for improvement would be the pacers. For the 3:30 group (one of the biggest - 20 or 30 of us), we started with two pacers who pretty quickly had a significant gap. This left us runners questioning which pace group we should be with. I wanted to play things smart and start out slow, so I stuck with the second pacer. But the other group was running maybe 10-20 seconds faster, which is huge! And no one really knew if they were going fast, or we were going slow, or both. Also, the pacers switched out every 6-8 miles, and the pacers coming in weren't exactly sure if we were a few seconds ahead or behind - which, once again - huge, when it comes to executing this race. You don't want to get stuck at mile 23 realizing you have to increase your speed by 10 or 20 seconds when you are just hanging in. At mile 20, our pacer left and told us we'd have another pacer at mile 23 & but these are crucial miles! So the few of us left with her were a bit shell shocked. To be fair - I am not blaming anyone's performance on this, but I did think we'd either have 1 pacer for the entire race or two pacers for half a marathon each. If the two initial pacers hadn't split into 'fast' and 'slow' groups, this also wouldn't have been a problem. In the end, only 2 out of 11 in my age group BQ'd, and 4 dropped out. Once again - NOT blaming the pacers. So easy to blame everyone but yourself in these types of things. But 20 miles in, body dying and not sure if you're going to be able to take another step...having your super amazing supportive pacer tell you she's leaving was not a fun surprise! But let's be honest - I was dead at that point anyway, so it didn't make much of a difference. But it could have for someone who was just hanging in. All in all, once again - amazing race. All of the pacers, organizers, and volunteers were so, so fantastic. Thank you so much for putting this on!!
Renee Macneil from Texas (9/15/2019) "Great support to get you to your BQ!" (about: 2019) 6-10 previous marathons COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 What a great race! I attended the 2019 Last Chance BQ.2 Chicagoland marathon all the way from the North Dallas, TX area. This race was such a positive experience from packet pick-up to the many BQ signs to take photo opts at the finish line. The course support was amazing and the volunteers kept us well-hydrated. I will be back if I need a qualifying time again! Thank you BQ.2!
D. Z. from IL (9/13/2017) "good course, friendly organizers, great crowd!" (about: 2017) 1 previous marathon \| 1 Last Chance BQ.2 Chicagoland Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 5 Even without the focus on qualifying for boston, this marathon would be a joy to run! The organizers and pace runners were helpful, the crowd was very enthusiastic and the other runners were all super-friendly (cuz they're all there for the same reason you are: to get that BQ). And that's to say nothing of the route! It runs north and south along the river so you have nice long straightaways in the cool refreshing air, perfect for building that momentum. I am happy to say i hit my BQ and hope to be in boston in april 2018... but i may come back next year just because it was such a great experience!

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