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Marathon Details - Chicago Marathon

North America Marathons > USA > IL > Chicago > Chicago Marathon

Chicago Marathon

Bank of America Chicago Marathon

Chicago, IL USA

October 13, 2024

http://www.chicagomarathon.com

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Address:	Bank of America Chicago Marathon 135 S. LaSalle St., Suite 2705 MC: IL4-135-27-05 Chicago, IL 60603
Phone Number:	312-904-9800
Fax Number:	312-904-9820
Email:	Email the organizers
Registration Schedule and Lottery:	World Marathon Majors

Runner Reviews (949)

Course 4.7

Organization 4.3

Spectators 4.9

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Number of comments: 949 [displaying comments 1 to 11]

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

gary lok from San Gabriel, California (11/21/2022) "Great organization and experience" (about: 2022) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Chicago Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 Great weather and course. However, a little disappointed we didn't run by Wrigley Field nor Guaranteed Rate Field being a baseball guy.
K. T. from Chicago, Illinois, USA (10/12/2022) "City of the Big Shoulders and a Big Heart" (about: 2022) 11-50 previous marathons \| 6+ Chicago Marathons COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 A Chicagoan, I ran this race for the 16th time. It is huge. The only organizational flaw was that there was no signage to guide runners from the parking lot to the expo for packet pickup. Volunteers and staff did a great job getting 40K+ runners to where they should be on race day. Aid stations were plentiful (22 of them). Fans lined the entire course (the Mexican neighborhood of Pilsen had the most color, music, and enthusiasm). There were plenty of distance markers and clocks on the very flat course. Start and finish areas were well organized with toilets and refreshments. Bravo, Chicago, my kind of town.
J. O. from Colorado (10/12/2021) "Much better in 2021 that might have be expected" (about: 2021) 11-50 previous marathons \| 6+ Chicago Marathons COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 Kudos to the organizers and the city for holding this race in the face of so many headaches and great uncertainty. My biggest gripe would be about the long lines to get into the expo due to the Covid certificate checks. It took over an hour on Saturday morning. Hopefully, this is a one-off glitch as there were only a handful of people checking and thousands waiting to get into the expo. But race day arrangements were generally very good though the corral gatekeepers were very lax and allowed many with bibs for later corrals into my corral. This should be the easiest thing to monitor. It's much easier to get to the start line in Chicago than many other big city marathons thanks to the CTA and there is a large amount of space at the finish for family and friends to gather and celebrate. On a warm and humid day where many runners fell victim to the conditions, the medical people were hyper-alert and quickly rushed to the fallen. I saw at least 5 runners prone on the street surrounded by EMTs, police and other emergency personnel. I hope all are ok. My first time back in the Chicago marathon since 1992 and though the race has grown enormously since then, it's still a special place. The highlight on the course for me was the 'Dancing Divas' on the stage near mile 8. It seemed that everyone was in a good mood and ready to party after the horrible 18 months we have all endured. Thanks organizers, volunteers and spectators and huge thanks to the city of Chicago
J. D. from USA (10/18/2019) "Awesome Marathon" (about: 2019) 1 previous marathon \| 1 Chicago Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 From the expo, corral start, to the awesome crowd; this is a great venue. Highly recommend purchasing a VIP tent ticket. Worth the extra expense. Logistics were great; stay as close to the start line as you like. No trains, busses or ferries needed. My first marathon and I am ready to run it again next year!
K. T. from Chicago, Illinois (7/8/2019) "City of the Big Shoulders and a Very Big Marathon" (about: 2018) 11-50 previous marathons \| 6+ Chicago Marathons COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 A native Chicagoan, I ran this race for the 15th time, but for the 1st time in 8 years. It grew! Marathon organizers do well getting and keeping the 40K+ runners where they should be. It's a huge production. The course is flat. Aid stations are numerous. The fans are everywhere. This year's race was a wet one. Anyway, enjoy the race and my city!
Jose Mateo from Santo Domingo, DOminican Republic (4/14/2019) "Excellent organization" (about: 2017) 1 previous marathon \| 1 Chicago Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 Best race ever
B. B. from Albuquerque, New Mexico (1/24/2019) "Beyond Awesome" (about: 2018) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Chicago Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 Having run New York five times and Boston twice, this year was my first time running Chicago, wow, what was I missing. This is a destination marathon where you can reasonably expect a PR. The course is both incredibly scenic and fast. The course is flat going forward and side to side, meaning because the roads you are running on are so wide you do not have to run much of the race on sides with large camber. The organization is great, water stops well run and long. The corals worked very well for me. Starting in first wave, corral "c" took about five minutes to get to start after gun sounded, but at start line the road opens up and I could run the whole race at chosen pace, not feeling like fighting through crowds. Best of all, left my hotel at 6:15 walked to Grant Park, and at my corral by 6:45, plenty of time to stretch etc. before 7:30 start. Love Chicago crowds and city.
R. H. from Nw York City (1/19/2019) "Great Bucket List Race" (about: 2018) 6-10 previous marathons \| 1 Chicago Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 4 Loved running Chicago in 2018. My only complaint is that my Garmin didn't show my current pace, probably due to the high buildings, so I think I started out too fast and paid for it at the end. Super flat. Loved running through the neighborhoods. Plenty of hydration and fuel stations along the course. Get ready for the hill at the end. It will surprise you. Cold, rainy, and windy during the first half. Windy and cold at the finish. Gotta love mother nature.
Wayne Wright from Palmdale, California USA (11/28/2018) "A Wet Day in the Windy City" (about: 2018) 50+ previous marathons \| 1 Chicago Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 INTRODUCTION: I am a race-walker with a median marathon completion time of 5:21:52. The Chicago Marathon was my fifty-second 26.2-miler accomplished. COURSE: It was a yellow flag day due to the slippery wet surface of the race course. While the National Weather Service reported 59 degrees, 90 percent relative humidity, winds from the northeast at 10 mph with overcast skies, the start of the race was marked with rain. The course began at Grant Park, staying in The Loop or just north of the Chicago River for the first three miles on this pancake flat course. We then headed northward through Lincoln Park, where the foliage provided a distinct and pleasant contrast to the concrete, steel, and glass we would experience the rest of the way. At mile 8, we turned south back toward The Loop where, halfway through the course, we turned westward, mostly on Adams Street, and then doubling back on Jackson Boulevard. By mile 17, we headed south through University Village, Little Italy, Pilsen, and Chinatown, the latter neighborhood which presented a pleasant architectural diversion from the rest of the cityscape. Just after mile 23, at the Illinois Institute of Technology campus, we returned northward to our finish line in Grant Park, a fraction of a mile from where we began the race. Weather at the finish was 60 degrees, 86 percent relative humidity, winds from the east at 11 mph with overcast skies. ORGANIZATION: Top notch. Best expo a participant could ask for. Especially noteworthy was the over-sized treadmill that gave the runner the opportunity of running 200 meters at the marathon world record pace completed just a week earlier in Berlin. Excellent traffic control and water stop support. Most marathons hand out the finisher medal just after crossing the finish line. Not so in Chicago, there was a bit of a walk, but for those who finished around six and a half hours after the initial starting gun, finishers were treated to receiving the medal by none other than the queen of marathons herself, Paula Radcliffe, a gesture much appreciated by the tortoise population. SPECTATORS: Noisy, comparable to the crowds one would find in New York City or Boston. Especially enthusiastic were the fans and bands in the Pilsen neighborhood between miles 19 and 20. CONCLUSION: There is something special about participating in a World Marathon Majors event. Perhaps it is due to participating in an event with the world's best, perhaps it is due to the size of the crowds, or perhaps it is due to the large number of participants running alongside you. Whatever the reason, a serious marathoner should consider including at least one of these races in his portfolio. Well done, Chicagoland.
R. M. from St. Louis, MO (10/29/2018) "Awesome! Awesome! Awesome!" (about: 2018) 4-5 previous marathons \| 1 Chicago Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 This was only my 4th marathon but first time running in Chicago. I love Chicago anyway and was really looking forward to running a large race. I'd heard so much about it and was hoping I wouldn't be disappointed. And I wasn't. There was a little confusion on shuttle locations to get to the expo but I'm glad they offered shuttles for free. It would have been a long walk to the expo for me if they hadn't. And the expo was just another expo. They are all different and work in their own ways. This year the weather, I think, was perfect. A little on the cool side to start and drizzly. I wish it would have rained longer than it had but I'm glad we had what we did. I heard last year wasn't so pleasant. I run a longer marathon so the longer you are out there, the warmer it tends to get. Not so bad though. I absolutely loved the course. I've been to Chicago before and will return even when not running. And every time I go, the car is parked and we walk everywhere. So I wasn't too worried or interested in taking in the neighborhoods as we ran through them. I enjoyed my race but was still able to take in the different neighborhoods. Wonderful! And the course support was wonderful too. With it being such a large race I had to wonder about nutrition and water stops, if there would be enough. Well, no problem with that. I've not finished a race with thousands of people behind me before but the water stations looked like the race had just started. Even the last stop I came to was ready for many more people. Wonderful preparedness. (expect the bathrooms. Not nearly enough at the start. Oh, well.) The corrals and waves and timing seemed good to me. I estimated my time correctly and was placed in in the correct corral (L for last) and was kinda grateful for a later start time. Yes, I passed a lot of people but I knew it could go either way. I pass them or they pass me. I'm not an elite so I expect it to be a mix of abilities. And the crowds. I really had no idea how may people would be cheering us on. I think that was the best part. All the way to the end. And on top of it all I PR'd. The pacers helped a lot but so did the course and the spectators. I can't wait for next year. I already have a new goal in mind. If I only run 1 marathon a year I would be happy with this one.

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



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gary lok from San Gabriel, California (11/21/2022) "Great organization and experience" (about: 2022) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Chicago Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 Great weather and course. However, a little disappointed we didn't run by Wrigley Field nor Guaranteed Rate Field being a baseball guy.
K. T. from Chicago, Illinois, USA (10/12/2022) "City of the Big Shoulders and a Big Heart" (about: 2022) 11-50 previous marathons \| 6+ Chicago Marathons COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 A Chicagoan, I ran this race for the 16th time. It is huge. The only organizational flaw was that there was no signage to guide runners from the parking lot to the expo for packet pickup. Volunteers and staff did a great job getting 40K+ runners to where they should be on race day. Aid stations were plentiful (22 of them). Fans lined the entire course (the Mexican neighborhood of Pilsen had the most color, music, and enthusiasm). There were plenty of distance markers and clocks on the very flat course. Start and finish areas were well organized with toilets and refreshments. Bravo, Chicago, my kind of town.
J. O. from Colorado (10/12/2021) "Much better in 2021 that might have be expected" (about: 2021) 11-50 previous marathons \| 6+ Chicago Marathons COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 Kudos to the organizers and the city for holding this race in the face of so many headaches and great uncertainty. My biggest gripe would be about the long lines to get into the expo due to the Covid certificate checks. It took over an hour on Saturday morning. Hopefully, this is a one-off glitch as there were only a handful of people checking and thousands waiting to get into the expo. But race day arrangements were generally very good though the corral gatekeepers were very lax and allowed many with bibs for later corrals into my corral. This should be the easiest thing to monitor. It's much easier to get to the start line in Chicago than many other big city marathons thanks to the CTA and there is a large amount of space at the finish for family and friends to gather and celebrate. On a warm and humid day where many runners fell victim to the conditions, the medical people were hyper-alert and quickly rushed to the fallen. I saw at least 5 runners prone on the street surrounded by EMTs, police and other emergency personnel. I hope all are ok. My first time back in the Chicago marathon since 1992 and though the race has grown enormously since then, it's still a special place. The highlight on the course for me was the 'Dancing Divas' on the stage near mile 8. It seemed that everyone was in a good mood and ready to party after the horrible 18 months we have all endured. Thanks organizers, volunteers and spectators and huge thanks to the city of Chicago
J. D. from USA (10/18/2019) "Awesome Marathon" (about: 2019) 1 previous marathon \| 1 Chicago Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 From the expo, corral start, to the awesome crowd; this is a great venue. Highly recommend purchasing a VIP tent ticket. Worth the extra expense. Logistics were great; stay as close to the start line as you like. No trains, busses or ferries needed. My first marathon and I am ready to run it again next year!
K. T. from Chicago, Illinois (7/8/2019) "City of the Big Shoulders and a Very Big Marathon" (about: 2018) 11-50 previous marathons \| 6+ Chicago Marathons COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 A native Chicagoan, I ran this race for the 15th time, but for the 1st time in 8 years. It grew! Marathon organizers do well getting and keeping the 40K+ runners where they should be. It's a huge production. The course is flat. Aid stations are numerous. The fans are everywhere. This year's race was a wet one. Anyway, enjoy the race and my city!
Jose Mateo from Santo Domingo, DOminican Republic (4/14/2019) "Excellent organization" (about: 2017) 1 previous marathon \| 1 Chicago Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 Best race ever
B. B. from Albuquerque, New Mexico (1/24/2019) "Beyond Awesome" (about: 2018) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Chicago Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 Having run New York five times and Boston twice, this year was my first time running Chicago, wow, what was I missing. This is a destination marathon where you can reasonably expect a PR. The course is both incredibly scenic and fast. The course is flat going forward and side to side, meaning because the roads you are running on are so wide you do not have to run much of the race on sides with large camber. The organization is great, water stops well run and long. The corals worked very well for me. Starting in first wave, corral "c" took about five minutes to get to start after gun sounded, but at start line the road opens up and I could run the whole race at chosen pace, not feeling like fighting through crowds. Best of all, left my hotel at 6:15 walked to Grant Park, and at my corral by 6:45, plenty of time to stretch etc. before 7:30 start. Love Chicago crowds and city.
R. H. from Nw York City (1/19/2019) "Great Bucket List Race" (about: 2018) 6-10 previous marathons \| 1 Chicago Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 4 Loved running Chicago in 2018. My only complaint is that my Garmin didn't show my current pace, probably due to the high buildings, so I think I started out too fast and paid for it at the end. Super flat. Loved running through the neighborhoods. Plenty of hydration and fuel stations along the course. Get ready for the hill at the end. It will surprise you. Cold, rainy, and windy during the first half. Windy and cold at the finish. Gotta love mother nature.
Wayne Wright from Palmdale, California USA (11/28/2018) "A Wet Day in the Windy City" (about: 2018) 50+ previous marathons \| 1 Chicago Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 INTRODUCTION: I am a race-walker with a median marathon completion time of 5:21:52. The Chicago Marathon was my fifty-second 26.2-miler accomplished. COURSE: It was a yellow flag day due to the slippery wet surface of the race course. While the National Weather Service reported 59 degrees, 90 percent relative humidity, winds from the northeast at 10 mph with overcast skies, the start of the race was marked with rain. The course began at Grant Park, staying in The Loop or just north of the Chicago River for the first three miles on this pancake flat course. We then headed northward through Lincoln Park, where the foliage provided a distinct and pleasant contrast to the concrete, steel, and glass we would experience the rest of the way. At mile 8, we turned south back toward The Loop where, halfway through the course, we turned westward, mostly on Adams Street, and then doubling back on Jackson Boulevard. By mile 17, we headed south through University Village, Little Italy, Pilsen, and Chinatown, the latter neighborhood which presented a pleasant architectural diversion from the rest of the cityscape. Just after mile 23, at the Illinois Institute of Technology campus, we returned northward to our finish line in Grant Park, a fraction of a mile from where we began the race. Weather at the finish was 60 degrees, 86 percent relative humidity, winds from the east at 11 mph with overcast skies. ORGANIZATION: Top notch. Best expo a participant could ask for. Especially noteworthy was the over-sized treadmill that gave the runner the opportunity of running 200 meters at the marathon world record pace completed just a week earlier in Berlin. Excellent traffic control and water stop support. Most marathons hand out the finisher medal just after crossing the finish line. Not so in Chicago, there was a bit of a walk, but for those who finished around six and a half hours after the initial starting gun, finishers were treated to receiving the medal by none other than the queen of marathons herself, Paula Radcliffe, a gesture much appreciated by the tortoise population. SPECTATORS: Noisy, comparable to the crowds one would find in New York City or Boston. Especially enthusiastic were the fans and bands in the Pilsen neighborhood between miles 19 and 20. CONCLUSION: There is something special about participating in a World Marathon Majors event. Perhaps it is due to participating in an event with the world's best, perhaps it is due to the size of the crowds, or perhaps it is due to the large number of participants running alongside you. Whatever the reason, a serious marathoner should consider including at least one of these races in his portfolio. Well done, Chicagoland.
R. M. from St. Louis, MO (10/29/2018) "Awesome! Awesome! Awesome!" (about: 2018) 4-5 previous marathons \| 1 Chicago Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 This was only my 4th marathon but first time running in Chicago. I love Chicago anyway and was really looking forward to running a large race. I'd heard so much about it and was hoping I wouldn't be disappointed. And I wasn't. There was a little confusion on shuttle locations to get to the expo but I'm glad they offered shuttles for free. It would have been a long walk to the expo for me if they hadn't. And the expo was just another expo. They are all different and work in their own ways. This year the weather, I think, was perfect. A little on the cool side to start and drizzly. I wish it would have rained longer than it had but I'm glad we had what we did. I heard last year wasn't so pleasant. I run a longer marathon so the longer you are out there, the warmer it tends to get. Not so bad though. I absolutely loved the course. I've been to Chicago before and will return even when not running. And every time I go, the car is parked and we walk everywhere. So I wasn't too worried or interested in taking in the neighborhoods as we ran through them. I enjoyed my race but was still able to take in the different neighborhoods. Wonderful! And the course support was wonderful too. With it being such a large race I had to wonder about nutrition and water stops, if there would be enough. Well, no problem with that. I've not finished a race with thousands of people behind me before but the water stations looked like the race had just started. Even the last stop I came to was ready for many more people. Wonderful preparedness. (expect the bathrooms. Not nearly enough at the start. Oh, well.) The corrals and waves and timing seemed good to me. I estimated my time correctly and was placed in in the correct corral (L for last) and was kinda grateful for a later start time. Yes, I passed a lot of people but I knew it could go either way. I pass them or they pass me. I'm not an elite so I expect it to be a mix of abilities. And the crowds. I really had no idea how may people would be cheering us on. I think that was the best part. All the way to the end. And on top of it all I PR'd. The pacers helped a lot but so did the course and the spectators. I can't wait for next year. I already have a new goal in mind. If I only run 1 marathon a year I would be happy with this one.

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Marathon Details - Chicago Marathon