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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 21 to 31]
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T. C. from Canada
(10/9/2017)
"Great 2nd Majors marathon experience" (about: 2017)
6-10 previous marathons
| 1 Chicago Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 My first Chicago Marathon. I had a great time over the 4 days I was in Chicago. Went into the race with no expectations as 2017 has been an injury plagued year. Spectators were great, lots of encouragement, music and water stations. Great finisher beer and medal too. I finished within my range but I was quite shocked to see that my watch read 44.08km. I have run 6 marathons & too many 1/2's to count and by far this is the most distance that my watch has been off (normally 300-400m) for a marathon). No sour grapes here but just surprised as I took the tangents too. Time to move on to the next race...Thanks Chicago 2017 btw Boston was my first...Hoping for Berlin in 2018. Cheers | |
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E. C. from Stoughton, WI
(8/11/2017)
"A magical day at the Chicago Marathon" (about: 2016)
4-5 previous marathons
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 Looking back, the entire experience was rather incredible. I'm still pinching myself. Starting running at age 52 my first marathon was over 6 hours. Chicago was my 5th marathon after about 3 years of steady training. I set a 10 minute PR and a BQ with a 3:35. I trained 20 weeks and over 800 miles in preparation including weekly speed and tempo runs and 6 days/week. It paid off. We had a perfect day - temps started at 53 and ended at 60 - sunny clear fall day in the city of big shoulders, Chicago. Lots of shade provided by the buildings. 44,000 runners and 1.7M spectators. Very crowded. Dodging people from start to finish. I highly advise getting to your corral early and moving to the front of your corral if you're going for a PR or BQ. I had to pass about 4000 people, no kidding. I started at the back of corral E and finished with C & D runners. Stayed at River Hotel which was a great location. My Garmin results were all over the place due to the buildings. Overall, an awesome bucket list experience. It will be a magical day in my memories forever. | |
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J. M. from Athlone Ireland
(11/16/2016)
"great race, great city, great spectators" (about: 2016)
6-10 previous marathons
| 1 Chicago Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 This was my first american marathon, travel from airport to downtown was very easy. My hotel was very central but be warned the cost of hotels is very high with a nice 16% tax on top of the price. I attended the expo on the Friday. Buses were provided but it was a long wait when getting the bus back downtown. Expo was good easy to get around and not too busy. Race morning the weather was perfect, easy to get to start on public transport, race organisation was excellent though it did seem to take a long time to get to the start when my koral started. The beginning of the race was great lots and lots of support and a lovely way to begin. The route was good but be warned the road is poor in many of the neighbourhoods away from downtown. This requires concentration and my be very off putting for the quicker runner. Food stops were plenty and long the tip is move towards the end of the table. The finish has a little incline but thats really the only one on the course. After finish you move through quickly, really like the very cold beer offered it really hit the sport. Overall a great race and the spectators were brilliant | |
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Joe Todd from London Ontario
(11/9/2016)
"Best Marathon Experience ever!" (about: 2016)
4-5 previous marathons
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 Marathon #6 is now in the books and wow did Chicago ever blow me away. Our Runner's Choice group of 66 from London Ontario Canada rented a bus and drove down for the race. The race director Carey Pinkowski was very welcoming which provided great spirit getting to the start line. The city is great, the course is flat, and there is so much to see. I am so impressed that they manage to organize 42,000 runners with a flow that would make much smaller races jealous. I hit my goal pace within 30 seconds of hitting the start mat without surging and dodging. The best part of the race was the people of Chicago. From the volunteers to the spectators the energy and passion blew my mind. I dont think there was a patch of road on the 26.1 mile trek that was not occupied. I had chills down my spine at several points. Thanks Chicago for a providing a great first experience in the city and a great marathon! | |
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D. K. from Michigan
(11/1/2016)
"Great Marathon" (about: 2016)
4-5 previous marathons
| 1 Chicago Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 I was hesitant about running another large marathon. But Chicago was on my bucket list so I decided to do it. I was pleasantly surprised by the organization. No problem getting to the gear check, port-a-potties and corral. Volunteers were everywhere and very helpful. Aid stations were conveniently located and full staffed. Course is ninety-five percent flat and the little hill at end did not bother me too much. Spectator support was awesome and made me feel special! I felt energized at the Finish Line even after 26.2 miles! | |
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W. W. from Los Angeles
(10/21/2016)
"Chicago is one of the best" (about: 2016)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 Chicago Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 I have run 28 different marathon courses. This is one of the best. The Condition: For this year. The temperature was perfect. It was cool, but not cold. The Course: Chicago Marathon course is fairly flat. The course has the loop back course. The start line and finish line are at city center. Without shuttling to the start line, you save a lot of time to get enough sleep before running. All streets are fairly smooth. No obvious pot hole hazardous. The Organization: Star line was divided into different waves and different corridors. The start road is fairly wide. There was no over-crowd at the beginning. All aid stations were well organized on both sides of the streets. At each station, Gatorade goes first; followed by water. Some stations supplied food. Race startling time was about half hour after the daylight. You don't need to run in the dark. Goose Island beer sponsored the event. You get free bear after finish! The finish time came out almost right after you across the finish line. Bag check was smooth and quick. The Spectators: The course loops around Chicago city. There were crowd to cheer you up all the time. The volunteers were enthusiastic and helpful. Not many live entertainment along the road. However, you could hear cheerful music along the way almost all the time. Could be better: Although the finish area was a wide open park. They fenced out to a narrow walk aisle. There was a long walk to an area you can sit down to relax a little. The number pickup for the day before closed at 6:00pm. It would be nice to open a little later to allow out of town runners to have enough time to pick up their numbers. | |
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T. C. from New Jersey
(10/20/2016)
"Great Big Time Marathon" (about: 2016)
6-10 previous marathons
| 1 Chicago Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 I can't say enough good things about this race. The course is absolute flat except for a few small bumps on the bridges. The crowd support was incredible the entire way! I don't think I ever encountered nicer volunteers. The start was well organized as was the finish area. I wasn't sure I wanted to run another marathon with 40,000+ people again but I'm glad I did. | |
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J. S. from Fargo ND
(10/18/2016)
"Awesome experience" (about: 2016)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 Chicago Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 I've run 34 marathons and have loved them all because they are each unique. Chicago was an awesome because of the enormity of the experience. There was always something interesting going on around you. You run through 29 neighborhoods that each have a different vibe. It has the feel of the world major marathon that it is. This is a cool thing to experience. Run a major. I've done Boston and will run NYC too. I also love small marathons, trail marathons, ultras, and other big city races but feel that runners should try a wide breadth of marathons to fully appreciate what a great sport that we suffer through. The city is awesome, so are the spectators, volunteers, organization and participants. Do this marathon if you can. | |
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A. S. from Milwuakee WI
(10/17/2016)
"Chicago does it well" (about: 2016)
4-5 previous marathons
| 1 Chicago Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 Very well organized marathon. Nothing lacking. Great staff, volunteers, aid stations, restroom availability, etc. All was as good as it gets. Spectators were great and its a nice flat and fast course. Weather was perfect also. Would strongly recommend this race! Coming back for sure. | |
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M. E. from Taastrup, Denmark
(10/15/2016)
"Great, but Norma perfect" (about: 2016)
6-10 previous marathons
| 1 Chicago Marathon
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 5 Well, the course isn't flat. Maybe in the us. But not in Europe. Try Berlin or Copenhagen - they are flat. There is a small bridge 500 yards from the finish. No spectators and nothing. That was a kill in the joy. The volunteers was amazing thank you. But love Chicago, liked the course. And would do it again. Also the porta potties, was too far away from the course about 150 feet. Not much, but still we are battling the clock. |
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