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Apr 29, 2024

Chicago Marathon Runner Comments

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Course 4.7

Organization 4.3

Spectators 4.9

Number of comments: 949 [displaying comments 31 to 41]

More Comments: [ < 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 .. 95 > ]

D. Y. from Orleans Canada (10/13/2016) "Fast, very well organixed marathon" (about: 2016) 6-10 previous marathons \| 1 Chicago Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 I'd heard nothing but good things about both the city of Chicago and their marathon and couldn't wait to run it. I stayed at a hotel in the Loop and it was an easy 15 minute walk to my corral off of Michigan Avenue. The corrals are well marked. Security was fast and not intrusive. The course is flat and fast. I PB'd by just under six minutes and re qualified for Boston in 2018! There are numerous water stations and the volunteers are friendly and efficient. The finishing area is also well organized with water, bananas, energy bars and drinks and to top it off, free cold beer! There are dozens of port a potties not far from the finish line and a well laid out 'meeting area' for friends and families beyond that. My only minor complaint concerns crowd control. Five or six times spectators darted across the road immediately in front of me. I almost ran into a young boy. There were barriers in some areas but not all. Overall, I'd strongly recommend the Chicago marathon to any marathoner!
K. M. from GA (10/11/2016) "Great Crowd Support beginning to end" (about: 2016) 4-5 previous marathons \| 1 Chicago Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 This is the 2nd largest US Marathon ( I believe ) with 40,000 participants! Having said that, I never felt crowded on the course. There was lots of crowd support from beginning to end, literally. Spectators can access the course from multiple points from the 'el'. There were ample Aid stations and the course is flat. If you follow the marathon on Facebook, you will receive lots of updates and encouragement leading up to the race. The race tracker is great as well so that friends and family can track their runner. There are only 3 minor complaints: 1) the last 5k is straight and seems to take for-ev-er! 2) the MC at the start was not that great. Not much hype and no music to get you pumped. 3) You literally have to walk almost a mile on exhausted legs to get to the post race party to meet up with friends and family.
B. B. from California, USA (10/11/2016) "Incredible experience" (about: 2016) 6-10 previous marathons \| 1 Chicago Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 Do this marathon if you have the opportunity! It really does live up to the hype. The spectators are amazing and make you feel like a rock star. The jumbotron in the middle of the course with inspirational messages from family/friends was a great touch. Organization was among the best I've seen, up there with Boston marathon. The course is extremely flat, just be sure to hold yourself back the first few miles and not go out too fast like most of the people around you. Miles 20-26 are nice and flat and conducive to passing all those people who went out too fast... There were tons of volunteers - thank you all - and all of them seemed friendly and knowledgeable. Aid stations were plentiful, well-stocked, and well-organized. Post-race food was pretty good, and the medal was nice. Shirt was also nice: fit well, and visually appealing too. The main drawbacks to this marathon: - Field size is huge (40,000 runners), which means the course is almost always congested. It was hard to get up to full speed without also having to weave around other runners. - Need more porta potties at the start area. - Runners in this race seemed to lack some basic etiquette. I have a black and blue toenail from when a runner at mile 22 unexpectedly came to a complete stop IN THE MIDDLE OF THE ROAD without warning right in front of me. I ran into her and jammed my toe against her shoe, and had to run the rest of the race in pain. People also tended to take the first cup at water stations and then drop cups in the middle of the road. All in all, if you have the opportunity to run this race - do it.
Carlos J. Soto from Guatemala (8/14/2016) "Huge and well organized" (about: 2015) 11-50 previous marathons \| 3 Chicago Marathons COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 Have run the Chicago marathon 3 times and about to run it again. Even with such high number or runners the superb organization makes this race a wonderful experience. I have BQ'd here 3 times because it is a flat and fast course with a great hydration and runner support system. Have seen the corrals work well and haven't really felt a jam such as some other people claim. The race is energetic, beautiful and fast. Packet pick up is fast and the expo is big but friendly; volunteers do a great job both at the expo and at the race. I expect to become a legacy runner soon, it is the best race for me, even after running other races part of the world majors marathon circuit like Boston, New York and Berlin. You are never going to regret running Chicago, this is where PB's come true.
F. B. from Sioux Falls, SD (11/28/2015) "Crowded, Rude Runners, Expo parking stunk" (about: 2015) 3 previous marathons \| 1 Chicago Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 5 This was my third marathon. Have ran Boston (2014) and Los Angeles (2015). Was really excited to have the opportunity to run this race. It is a neat experience to run this race, with all the people on the course and cheering, but once is enough. The cold hard facts: Too damn many people are allowed to run this race. I am a 3:30-3:45 marathoner, and I never felt like I could open up full throttle without having to weave through people. The corrals need to be started in slower waves. My corral started 10-15 minutes after the race began. It should have been more like 30 minutes. Even Boston with 38,000 runners was much better managed without having to trip over people. One time my shoe came untied and I had to angle towards the side of the street before I could safely tie it. Runners on this course are very rude. The expo stunk. You had to 'validate' your pass while at the expo, or it cost you $30 to park, instead of $10 (or thereabouts). Everything in Chicago is unionized and that is agonizingly apparent at the expo. Chicago is a dump that for one day looks nice. But after the race the streets resume to being unsafe. I'd stay close to the start line/finish line so the filth in this city doesn't put your life at risk traveling to or from the start/finish line. LA is a much better, more fun race. Chicago needs to shut the race off at 30,000 or do a better job staggering the starts.
G. M. from Mexico (10/28/2015) "Course, will be great to run besides the lake." (about: 2015) 1 previous marathon \| 1 Chicago Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 Awesome marathon, it was my first, I really enjoyed. General Electric Mexico has a Health Ahead program, where there is a runners group, and since 2012 GE gifts one single ticket to the Chicago Marathon. This is was my year. Unfortunately I did not reach the time for the Boston Marathon. I am considering to return for the next marathon, I have to consider the cost, due to I am not eligible for GE MEXICO, because I won the 2015.
J. A. from Colorado Springs, CO (10/19/2015) "BELIEVE THE HYPE" (about: 2015) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Chicago Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 Believe the hype. The entire experience was outstanding. Incredibly organized, flat, fast, the list can go on and on. If you have an opportunity to run Chicago do it.
D. S. from OH (10/17/2015) "walkathon not a marathon!!!" (about: 2015) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Chicago Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 5 Having run Boston (qualified) this year, I expected much more than what I got. The positives were the cityscapes, spectators and of course the volunteers. Now for negative: This is a World Majors Marathon NOT A WALKATHON!!! I have never seen such mess on a course! Mixing the charity runners with those going for time was a disaster. Nothing worse than having to come to a complete stop due to 'runners' who decided to start walking or even stop in the middle of the road! Thank you for the water stops. Again the most of the marathoners seemed not to know anything about RUNNER'S ETIQUETTE! Stopping for the very first cup and throwing it down and not away from the course made the water stops dangerous, very slippery, and just a sea of empty cups on the course. I had to swerve in and out of just to get a cup. The walkers in some points made the course impassable. As to security my husband was constantly told by police officers to stay off the curb, yet pedestrians were cutting through the course at all points(even downtown). I almost tripped over a pedestrian wheeling his suitcase across the course (Chinatown). Now that I have looked at pictures I am wondering about security: I see people strolling on the course, NO BIB. I see family members walking along side the 'runners'. I was never informed that each corral had their own pacers, it made it very confusing to know your own pace. It was impossible to have a negative split for me. The second half was more of a traffic jam and a walking event than a marathon. Still managed to BQ. And people, TAKE A SHOWER before you run among thousands!!! This did not feel like a World Majors promoting elite runners, the results definitely don't reflect as so! I am very disappointed. First and last for Chicago, I will stick to Boston.
M. G. from AZ (10/15/2015) "Still the best but logistics need some rethinking" (about: 2015) 50+ previous marathons \| 6+ Chicago Marathons COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 17th Chicago, 90th overall. As always, this one delivers. By far, THE best spectators and volunteers you'll ever see. Chicago knows how to cheer and embrace this event. Kudos for another on-time start, visible mile markers/clocks, aid stations that had fluids in biblical proportions, tons of beer post-race, and the friendliest/most helpful volunteers you'll ever meet. Seeded corrals always a plus. Some rethinking is in order: shuttles to the expo we're 'off' this year - waited way too long to get on/back on for the return. Previous years this ran like clockwork. Packet pick-up needs to flow into the expo and they should allow others to pick up your packet with proper ID. The shirt was blah (again). In a city with all that artistic talent, they can do better. Expo was leaner this year, no doubt, there's expo fatigue. Even the Nike area was lackluster. Race morning egress needs a complete overhaul. 99% of runners enter from the west. The bottleneck to pass security and get to the other side to enter corrals are frustrating. Arrive 60-90 minutes early. Porta-johns, bag-drops, and access on are on the opposite side of the park - a HUGE logistical challenge that needs big rethinking. 37K ran the race; it was a sellout of 45K. I can't image how much worse it could've been had everyone showed up. On the course, half of the volunteers had no gloves and holding cups by the rim instead of on their palms. Appreciated the bananas but they should have been peeled to alleviate most of the sticky ground mess. Sponges and gels were also appreciated. Post-race food was fine and they took the time to hang the medal on you instead of handing it over -excellent job! Results and photos were posted quickly. Still, you'll be glad you signed up for this one. Keep in mind the scale and you'll have a phenomenal time. Pancake flat with only a few inclines at some bridges. Plenty of roomn - ever too crowded and you're never alone. See you next year, Chicago!
D. M. from Detroit, MI (10/14/2015) "Well Organized Marathon" (about: 2015) 3 previous marathons COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 I really enjoyed my Chicago Marathon experience. The expo was grand and informative; I enjoyed listening to the various talks by athletes and trainers. The exhibits were interesting and the food available enabled me to start my 'carb load.' I really want to recognize the volunteers and organizers in supporting the runners on a very hot and sunny day. I am a cold weather runner and the volunteers made a special effort to keep us cool by opening up fire hydrants, garden hoses and distributing sponges to cool us down. Plenty of water and Gatorade. I slowed my pace down and was able to safely finish. The recovery milkshakes and food were also helpful. Congratulations to Chicago for putting on a world-class marathon!

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