Amy Sobero's Staging Area

The Bank of America Chicago Marathon is an Abbot World Major, and this weekend I saw why. It is well-organized, efficient, and considers what is important to runners, from elites to the every day athlete. We were provided with regular race updates regarding the Expo, course, and weather. On race morning, there were helpful and friendly volunteers directing athletes and making the navigation of the race start area easy. They had water and gatorade at the start area, but unfortunately could not permit any fluids past security into the start area–I think this caught some runners, including myself, by surprise and we had to dump our pre-filled flasks and refill later. The corrals were clearly marked and volunteers ensured each runner was in the correct corral; overhead announcements reminded runners of when their respective corral was closing. The course itself is superb, taking you through downtown Chicago, traversing over rivers several times, and running past key icons of the Windy City. The course winds through many neighborhoods and has several shaded areas. It is virtually flat, with a few minor elevation changes at overpasses or bridges. The race is widely embraced by Chicagoland, as crowds were out lining approx. 90% of the course. There were a few “dry spells” of not-so-scenic/industrial areas w/o crowds, as necessitated by the course. Aid stations were plentiful and well-stocked with water, Gatorade, and port-a-pots. They were on both sides and clearly marked. The finish area had several options of nutrition immediately after, including free beer, and the bag drop pick-up process could not have been smoother. They had gated off the finish area for participants only and spectators had to wait just outside the finish area. I really appreciated this, as it allowed runners to collect themselves and begin recovery without being swamped by spectators. Beyond the race finish area, the immediate streets were closed and there was signage and police officers to direct participants and spectators leaving the race, which prevented any congestion. I easily and quickly found my way back to the L line and to my lodging.

We had warm weather for this race and the support, particularly medical, were outstanding. I saw at least two people down on the course in later miles and medical were promptly with each person. In addition, the Chicago Police were along the entire course, ensuring road closures and safety of runners. I have completed several 20,000+ running events and this race stands out as overall excellent, and being fully prepared for its volume of runners and spectators. This race felt like a recognition and celebration of everything running, and was well worth waiting three years to finally secure a lottery bib! I highly recommend it.

– CIM was well-organized and provided excellent pre-race communication and tutorial videos from race directors and pace team leaders. This organization strives to ensure each runner is prepared and can have a great race.
– Race morning transportation/logistics were smooth and while the portalet-to-runner ratio is the best in the nation, still get in line early. The start line was a well-oiled machine, with runners self-seeded and pacers easy to find. Some signage was a bit vague, though, and I ended up hopping a gate to the correct corral.
– The course is mostly rolling hills until the last few miles. This is the underwhelmed part of my review…it was pretty much a divided four-lane road through suburban Sacramento until the last handful of miles. It got a bit boring at times, but the predictability of the course helps sustain rhythm and pace.
– Crowds were intermittent and somewhat thin, but frequent enough that you kept the motivation going. Lots of cowbells and some very funny and creative signs. This is also where I was underwhelmed, particularly since this feature of the course (ie., crowds) had been raved about by prior CIM runners and I didn’t feel like it lived up to the hype. I’ve run races with more ambitious crowds, I guess. All in all, though, Sacramento does come out for this race and you feel like the whole City is rooting for you!
– Aid stations were frequent but only on the right side after mile 4ish. This created some bottlenecking and logistically was difficult given the number of runners.
– The race field was a good size for going for a PR and had a substantial amount of pacers, many of them BQ-oriented.
– The post-race area lacked places to sit but had good amount of nutrition and fluids, including an environmentally-friendly reusable water bottle. The shuttles back to the CIM partner hotels were easy to find but waited quite awhile before leaving and then our driver appeared to get lost enroute.

This is a solid race in many aspects and I had a good run, finishing with a PR. While I don’t plan to run CIM again, I think everyone should consider it, as there are many repeat CIM racers and it just might be your new favorite–I just didn’t have that experience.