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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 101 to 111]
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M. G. from Arizona
(10/8/2012)
"Again, THE best mega-race out there..." (about: 2012)
50+ previous marathons
| 6+ Chicago Marathons
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 14th Chicago for me; 65th overall - this race delivers every time. This year's weather was perfect-cloudy and 46. Course and American record broken on this flat, speedy course. Expo, packet pick-up all a breeze. Two-wave start this year-went off on-time for both waves. Organizers may want to re-think charity runners starting in the middle-many walking early on and many right down the center of the road. Water/Gatorade stops numerous and friendly; all clocks and runner updates via text/etc. worked perfect. Record turnout and finishers this yearover 38,000. 1.7 million enthusiastic spectators and an army of volunteers to cheer you on. Post-race easy-lots of food and beer. Many repeat this race for all these reasons and more-you won't be disappointed-just brace for a gigantic race-day event. | |
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M. E. from Iowa
(10/8/2012)
"Wave Starts" (about: 2012)
First Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 2 FANS: 5 I ran my first marathon at the 2012 Chicago Marathon and I was a little disappointed with how the marathon organized the start. The marathon had 2 waves to start the race. The race allowed the charity runners in the first wave, which I feel was a big mistake. I was in the 2nd wave because it was my first marathon. During the race I had to pass thousands of charity runners, some who were walking majority of the course. It was frustrating to have to pass 4-5 walkers in a line, when you have trained hard for the race. I felt I wasted a lot of energy running around these large groups of individuals. I think it's great to have a large number of charity participants running in the race, but I don't think they need to be in the first wave. I feel they should be into corrals based on completion time just like everyone else. | |
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D. S. from Downers Grove
(10/8/2012)
"Nailed it!" (about: 2012)
11-50 previous marathons
| 3 Chicago Marathons
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 Wonderful running experience. The organization and volunteers were outstanding. This is a truly amazing race for every level of runner. This was my 12th marathon and PRed by 2:00. | |
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K. H. from Wilmette, IL
(10/8/2012)
"Incredible job this year...with one blemish." (about: 2012)
6-10 previous marathons
| 2 Chicago Marathons
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 5 Chicago was amazing this year...and FINALLY had some good weather to match the incredible quality of this race. I felt like they paid special attention on the second half of the course this year, where there were many cheer zones and some of them were LOUD. Awesome. Organization was fantastic in every respect (plentiful aid on the course, easy to find everything before and after, etc.) except one: they ran out of medals this year. Since Chicago attracts so many new marathoners, this really, really needs to be addressed for next year. Aside from that, amazing experience. Bravo, Chicago! | |
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Chinyere Obasi from Kearney, Nebraska, USA
(10/8/2012)
"Well organized" (about: 2012)
3 previous marathons
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 A bit crowded especially at the start and hard to keep a constant pace. But that goes with the size of the event....and its popularity. | |
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Patti Brucki from Chicago, Illinois
(10/8/2012)
"Amazing positive energy!!!" (about: 2012)
11-50 previous marathons
| 6+ Chicago Marathons
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 This is my 15th Chicago marathon. God Bless the cool weather-great spectators, volunteers and drumming throughout. So well organized...as safe as you can get doing something fairly dangerous. | |
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J. Martinez from Morris, IL
(3/27/2012)
"A great way to see Chicago." (about: 2011)
3 previous marathons
| 3 Chicago Marathons
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 Very well organized. Awesome fan support. Flat course. Must sign up early or enter through a charity group. | |
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J. B. from Temperance, MI
(2/4/2012)
"Nice race but..." (about: 2011)
6-10 previous marathons
| 2 Chicago Marathons
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 I love this race, it is so motivating with the crowds and all the runners. However it seems to be a little warm and wish they would move the race back to late October or early November. The crowds, expo, and organization is great!!!! Not sure I will do again, simply because of the heat. | |
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M. Y. from OH
(11/14/2011)
"Lota runners" (about: 2011)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 Chicago Marathon
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 Big race! Weather was a tad on the warm side, but I have run in worse. Organization: Expo was quite large with plenty of products no matter what you were looking for, nice to have the free buses. I walked about a mile from my hotel to the start line about two hours before race start and it took a while to figure out where I wanted to be to start, but if you give yourself plenty of time its OK. Course: Decent, I love the sponges since it was so warm. All the spectators and excitement in the air as you run sure helps keep you going. But its so crowded, as I was dodging runners I remembered why I stick to more small town marathons, however you know that when you sign up, so no complaints. Swag/Extras: The medal is decent, but I think the shirts design sucks. I assume they want you to buy their overpriced shirts that are for sale, out of 15 marathons this is my probably my least favorite shirt! Overall, Chicago is such a great city to spend a weekend in, it does make a really good destination marathon. | |
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P. A. from Arizona
(10/26/2011)
"Chicago Marathon Realities" (about: 2011)
50+ previous marathons
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 For all the great things this marathon has to offer, there are some practical realities worth considering. To begin with, this race is crowded from start to finish, meaning middle pack runners will find it hard to get into a rhythm and must always be wary of the crowds around them. Many sections of the course are too narrow for 40,000 runners which gets worse when spectators spill out into the streets because there are no barricades holding them back. Way too many spectators try and cross the street during the race putting themselves and runners in harms way. There is also a large number of first time marathoners. This contributes to an environment where people are stopping dead in their tracks at aid stations and lots of people are walking the last 6 miles due to poor pacing. All in all, there are numerous hazards in this type of running environment that if nothing else can lead to frustration over the course of 26 miles. If you are into crowds, both on and off the course, then this is a great event for you. If you want a marathon experience where you can run at a reasonable pace, safely and efficiently negotiate aid stations, and generally have a less stressful environment for what by nature is a very stressful endeavor, then you may want to consider other marathons. There are numerous fall marathons within a few hours drive of Chicago to consider. Finally, for some weird reason, the weather for this race always seems to be on the extremes. Over the last 4 years alone, 3 have been very hot and one extremely cold and windy. I have run 25 marathons with a goal of running the five majors (Boston, NY, Chicago, London and Berlin). Had it not been for that, I would have skipped this one. |
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