Kathleen Summersgill's Staging Area

I wanted to love Chicago, but I was overwhelmed by the noise from fans. This is obviously one of the largest fields, but also one of the biggest crowds, so be ready for that! Even the race expo was crazy and packed with people going everywhere and lines for everything. The race course will be crowded, but it is flat. You won’t need for anything on the race course as they provide tons of support in the way of water, Gatorade endurance, Maurten Gels, medical support, and other assorted tables full of anything a runner might want in the later miles. The bridges in the 20 something miles are a bit tricky and it caught a few people who fell. Most people heard for the red rugs atop the metal grating. There is a legit hill at about mile 26, which seems cruel, but you have to go up to run down into the park to finish.
The best was the neighborhoods. It was as if they were competing to show off what made their neighborhood special. The worst was the people that kept darting through runners to cross the course. I nearly ran into 3 people who were walking rental bikes across the course. I made the mistake of not walking the long walk to the post race party. There were no buses and I ended up walking to my hotel instead. Get reservations for every dinner and secure your hotel or plans for wherever you stay as early soon as possible. The pre race pasta meal at Millenium Hall was a lot of standing in line despite a reservation and the food left me wishing I ate most anywhere else.