If you like lots of runners and fans it's hard to imagine a better race. For an event with 35,000 participants, I think they do an amazing job. The energy you get from the all the cheering fans, volunteers and fellow runners is amazing. On a hotter day I thought the longer water / Gatorade stops were perfect and the sponges were a nice treat (Despite all the runners, I never missed a cup). It's obvious the organizers put a tremendous amount of thought and work into this event.

40,000 of us and we loved every minute of it. Crowds lined the streets for the whole duration and the best placard of the day goes to 'Worst Parade Ever!'.
Very hot day but water and gatorade at every mile, excellent finish area and Celebration Village is the best I have ever seen.
Free bus to the Expo from downtown, always a bonus.
If I can afford to, would do it every year.

My 4th time running, and it's a great race in every way. Everything the race director has control of, is nailed down and rock solid. I've done this basically on an every other year schedule and will continue to do that for the foreseeable future. Simply one of my favorite races in an amazing, world class city.

Two wishes for the future.

1. Make some slight course changes from miles 14 through 18.. Stay on the south side, but make it a little more interesting. Get's a little boring and a lot hot in that section.

2. Move the race back by one week for more optimal weather. It's warmer more often than not in the current slot.

I would be sure to mention any bad aspects of this race, but I have trouble finding a single one.. it's that well done.

If you run and you live in the Midwest (or like to travel) this is a must run marathon. The energy and city are truly fantastic. Personally, I ran a horrible marathon (my slowest) but had a great time. Run it once and you will be hooked.

The course was flat, the weather was hotter than hoped. The amount of runners was great.

PROS
- Great place to visit and run.
- Great weather, but too hot.
- Great elite runners.

CONS
- Too many people for the starting areas.
- Not enough Porta-Jons during the race, had to wait until after mile 6!

I knew I wanted my first to be NYC, Boston or Chicago. Do it big or don't, right? With a non-guaranteed NYC entry and a qualifying time for Boston, this was my chance. Loved the spectators and their signs, loved the course and thought the expo was good. I wasn't fond of the shirt or the location of the expo (too far away). I knew there would be a lot of runners, so I can't say the crowded nature of the corrals was an issue. That's just par for the course. Aid stations were plentiful with gatorade, water, sponges at some, bananas and gel. Temp was a factor in my time, but that's just the nature of the unpredictable weather.

This is a world class marathon (literally) and I highly recommend you initiate yourself into the world of 26.2 with this race!

Knocked off a bucket list race in 2011. The crowds were amazing. I've never seen anything like it in a race. Perfect day to be a spectator.

The Good: The crowds were electric. You fed off them as you ran. The course was well marked and the volunteers running the aid stations and working support to the entire expo/race/post race deserve special mention and heaps of praise. The aid stations were well spaced and well stocked. Never an issue with what you were getting and having sponge stations were a bonus. The expo was well run and the variety of events, charities, merchants, and info was first rate.

The Bad: Chicago needs a wave start like Philly (a smaller race). The corrals were good but it still took time to find my stride. The heat caused me to change my plan from a PR push to training run...would a 30 minute earlier start help? Add the misters to both sides of the street so you don't have all the runners veering to one side (stagger the L/R placement so people who don't want to get wet don't have to). The medal and shirt were disappointing compared to most other venues, to include marathons with less than 300 participants. Kick it up a notch as those 2 items are advertising for 2012 and beyond!

The Ugly: Porta-johns! The lines were 30-45 minutes. Paying for a perks tent made a big difference for me but for the majority, nature called as it got closer to the start. On the course I didn't see any restrooms until the 5th mile or so and those were not well marked. There were formations of runners hitting the walls in the tunnel in the first mile.

I'm glad I ran one of the biggest marathons out there and running through the neighborhoods was great. I highly recommend this race.

This was my fourth time running Chicago. Unlike my race times, it just gets better every year.

The support along the course from the fans and volunteers was so inspiring and genuinely enthusiastic. They really motivated me to finish after the heat was getting me down.

I would agree that the race shirt was lame, but I have noticed the big races (NY, Berlin, Chicago) have so-so shirts. I think they want you to buy the better looking shirts at the expo. But I have enough race shirts, so that that isn't such an issue.

I will do this race again, but next year I will be volunteering & cheering for the runners!

13th marathon and 1st Chicago. I've run only one other large scale marathon (Marine Corps) and this was impressive. Best organization I've ever seen for a race. Crowds were huge and awesome. I was able to start in corral C and never felt crowded during any point of the race even though there were 35,000+ finishers. Weather was a little warm this year, but nothing you can do about that. Great race, great city. Would love to do it again.

This was my 1st race in Chicago - I can't wait to go back and do this one again. The crowd support was phenomenal, the volunteers helpful, water stops plentiful and many with hoses spraying us down. A must-do race for anyone who loves to run marathons. I raised money for the American Cancer Society and was treated like a VIP. We had our own pre-race porta-potties, people on the course to offer support and the post-race food in the charity village was excellent. The shirt wasn't my favorite, but I scored some cool shirts at the expo the day before.