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☰
Chicago Marathon Runner Comments
Back to Chicago Marathon Information & Reviews
Course 4.7 
Organization 4.3 
Spectators 4.9
Number of comments: 949 [displaying comments 81 to 91]
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J. M. from ILLINOIS
(7/26/2013)
 "One of the Best" (about: 2012)
4-5 previous marathons
| 2 Chicago Marathons
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 The Chicago Marathon is one of the BEST marathons out there. Seamless execution and organization. The race organizers here are PROFESSIONAL. Expo - one of the best Course - Love all the neighborhood support and the diverse scenery on the course. Support - Aid stations always well run and organized. Water/gatorade etc all extremely well marked Shirt - Always great Crowds - One of the best in the country! SO much support, you rarely hit a blank spot in the course! Love the support from the city! This will always be one of the best marathons. Everyone should run it once!! | |
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T. M. from Annapolis, md
(5/20/2013)
"Perfect" (about: 2012)
6-10 previous marathons
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 I have run in many other cities but none compare to this one. Everything was perfect. The course was flat, fast, very scenic. Support and aid stations were everywhere. And this the first marathon I've run that has spectators literally the entire course. If I could change one thing,it would be the weather. 30 at the start. | |
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D. S. from Red Lodge, MT
(11/3/2012)
"A marathoner's heaven on earth" (about: 2012)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 Chicago Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 Disclaimer: This was my 1st big-city marathon ... previous biggest was Vegas with 12k runners. That said, I totally loved everything about this marathon. Does everything better than my previous 15 across the US. Its flat beyond my wildest hopes. Some people say the 40k runners = too crowded; I had no problem and was thankful for 26 miles of drafting. The new start corral system worked great. The aid stations were all organized exactly alike and with kids who all knew how to properly 'palm' drink cups for full-speed runner pick-up. And hundreds of thousands of spectators packed every possible inch of the course and seemed to continuously cheer from start to finish. One small gripe: the Hilton Chi HQ. Their service & amenities don't justify $344/night; you can get better just north of the river for $50 to $100 less. But I'll still do all I can to be back next year. | |
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J. M. from Springfield, Missouri
(10/22/2012)
"As close to perfect as they come." (about: 2012)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 Chicago Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 Simply put, this is an amazing marathon. Here are some random thoughts: The organization is superb. Getting to the expo was a smooth process, as we took the train. We did have a bit of difficulty finding the shuttle to and from the train, so better signage may be in order. But the expo itself is great. The course is fantastic. Aid stations seemed to go on forever (one block of water, followed by one block of gatorade). Lots of food, too. The bananas were great, though I would suggest to volunteers that they wear rubber gloves and peel the bananas. The peelings on the street looked a little dangerous. One issue folks have mentioned is the Corral setup. It does seem problematic to put the charity runners at the back of the first wave. I was ahead of them, so I did not experience having to pass a lot of walkers, but I heard it was an issue. Suggestion: Have two charity Corrals; the first (E) could be for those who run, and a second corral could be toward the back of the second wave. The finish area was also great, with lots of food choices. The bags for the food are a really nice touch. And they even had small bags of ice readily available as you get your food, rather than having to go to a medical tent. Excellent. I would also add that there is a lot to do downtown, as expected. We stayed a couple days extra and still didn't see all we wanted to see. The train system is great, and works incredibly well for travel to everything marathon related. We found that it works well to stay near O'Hare. It is a 30-minute train ride to downtown, but you can save a ton of money. We were at Springhill Suites just two stops from the airport, and it worked out great. Finally, I would add that we found Chicago to be a really friendly city. They really support this race. The volunteers, too, are wonderful and plentiful. I wholeheartedly recommend this marathon. | |
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J. G. from Toronto, Canada
(10/17/2012)
 "Overall, great marathon" (about: 2012)
2 previous marathons
| 1 Chicago Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 The only thing I can add that hasn't already been said is this: in the detailed booklet that the organizers send to the runners prior to the race, there could be a page included about runner etiquette. I couldn't count the number of runners (I was deep in the pack of slow runners) who cut me off to get a drink; grab a drink and then stop in the road to drink it thereby making everybody behind them stop; chuck their garbage in the middle of the road rather than to the side; or get tired and just stop in the middle of the road to rest. I banged into several people because of that. Yup, there's 40,000 runners, but giving some tips on runner etiquette prior to the race might make some experiences much better. | |
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I. H. from London, England
(10/17/2012)
 "Great race, only few small niggles" (about: 2012)
2 previous marathons
| 1 Chicago Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 4 First time running Chicago in my quest to complete all the majors. While NYC was my first and therefore more special, with better crowd support, Chicago was well-organised with a very civilised start (ie. no waiting for hours huddled in the cold). Only major niggle was the 30-40mins wait to collect bag at end. Plenty of food & drink and Gatorade products. Free medal engraving at Fleet Foot and Niketown could have been publicised better, as I only found out too late. A big race but did not feel like one, except at bag check of course. | |
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F. C. from Ottawa, Canada
(10/16/2012)
"Excellent Marathon in a Magnificent City!!" (about: 2012)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 Chicago Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 This was my first U.S. and Big City Marathon, and it blew my expectations out of the water!!! I have done 14 other marathons in 9 different cities in Canada, and my biggest marathon was 4000. The Course and Fans were amazing....they kept me going almost for the whole marathon. Chicago is such a beautiful city...the beautiful parks, the friendly people, and so much more. I think I chose the right marathon to do as my first U.S. Marathon. I never felt congested (even though close to 38,000 runners finished). Excellent job to all the organizers, volunteers and fans!!! I will definitely do this one again!!! | |
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J. L. from Lubbock, TX
(10/16/2012)
"Excellent Race" (about: 2012)
6-10 previous marathons
| 1 Chicago Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 Great course with lots of fan support. This was my sixth marathon and by far the best. The city really gets behind the race & the course is filled with spectators the entire way. Make sure to wear your medal around afterwards. This was the only race where I didn't feel like a nerd for wearing it after I had changed. You'll get a lot of congratulations from random people & fellow runners. I agree with the earlier poster about the bannana peels. I actually slipped a little one but luckily it wasn't major. If the peel was a little bigger I may have fallen. There are lots of water stops that are well manned. I ran with a pace group for most of the race and they were fantastic. Thanks Nike pacers! The expo gets pretty crazy on Saturday. I took a shuttle in & the lines for the shuttle out were long when I left. They did move pretty fast though. You can buy official merchandise at the Nike store on Michigan if you don't want to mess with it at the expo (which is what I did). Also if you buy a finishers shirt at the Nike store after the race they'll engrave your medal for free. I'd recommend going on Sunday. I had a friend go on Monday and it was pretty backed up. I did mine on Sunday right after the race and it took them about 15 minutes. I'm still excited about this race and hope to run it again. | |
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Doug Widowski from Rockford, Illinois
(10/15/2012)
"Fantastic as always!" (about: 2012)
11-50 previous marathons
| 6+ Chicago Marathons
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 I was one of the 1300 hundred runners who didn't receive a medal at the finish. It arrived today as promised with my name and time engraved. Along with my medal was a note containing an apology from race director Carey Pinkowski. A class act all the way. D. Widowski | |
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W. F. from Brooklyn, NY
(10/12/2012)
"Great race!" (about: 2012)
6-10 previous marathons
| 1 Chicago Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 3 This was my first Chicago and sixth marathon overall (others run: NYC (2x), Marine Corps, Shamrock, Pittsburgh). Overall, Chicago puts on an excellent race, top to bottom. Having run NYC twice, I was a bit wary of the logistical headaches that result from a big time marathon. My concerns were completely unwarranted. Everything was easy, from packet pick up, to arriving at the start line to exiting the finish area. I was even amazed that there was a 'Runners' Supply Booth' at the start line that provided people with safety pins, vaseline and trash bags to use to keep warm. Wow! A few minor bits of constructive criticism: -Get rid of the charity corral in the first wave and seed charity runners with everyone else. While it wasn't terrible, I did pass a lot of charity runners in the early miles. -Provide sturdier gear check bags. Mine ripped as I was carrying it around the expo (although mailing tape seemed to deter any further rips). -Set up a mail-in engraving deal with one of your sponsors. For those of us that had to leave town, we were unable to take advantage of the medal engraving at Fleet Feet on Monday. -Provide runners one bag of food in the finish chute that includes water, gatorade, a bagel, etc., rather than have a bazaar of different offerings. This might clear up congestion a bit and expedite the finish area (which admittedly moves WAY faster than NYC). -Also, I heard that some back of the packers didn't receive medals as the event ran out. I wasn't in that crowd, so I can't comment on it specifically, but I will say, the event organizers seem to quite responsive on the event's facebook page with promise of prompt mailing. -I didn't love the Nike 'You Own Chicago' set up at mile 23. I'm sure I sound ridiculous, but it felt too early in the race for that (the Nike set up had the feel of a spectator yelling 'you're almost there!' when you're clearly not). What about having them set at mile 25ish? -Nike ran out of many official merchandise sizes by mid-morning on Saturday at the expo. -Great crowd support, but I still think NYC takes the crown on that one. Honestly, I loved my 2012 Chicago experience and would absolutely recommend the race to others. Hopefully the Marathon Gods see it fit to provide as nice a day weather-wise for future years. |
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