Jacob Sephton's Staging Area

The Jackson Hole Marathon is absolutely gorgeous. You wont get more beautiful scenery.
Bib pick- up was the day before 3-7 and they do have race day mourning pick up if you need it. The shirt was nice, but nothing to special. They have a small selection of hats, shirts, and hoodies if you want to buy more. Not really an expo since its such a small marathon. No vendors.
Transportation- The marathon starts in the city of Jackson Hole and ends in Teton village (a sky resort). They do offer a shuttle ride from Teton village to Jackson hole for the start line in the mourning. However, there is no transportation from Teton village back to Jackson hole. So you will need to use the public bus or have someone pick you up if your not staying in Teton village.
Weather- The weather this time year can be up and down. It was partly cloudy and 35 at the start at 7:30 and by noon it was around 50 when i ran. However, two days before when i arrived there was a lot of rain an day after was super fogy and in the 20s. Weather can vary a lot with this one due to being in the mountains in the fall. Be prepared for anything.
Size- Smaller race. 233 marathoners and i believe around 600 if you count the other two races (witch will also be on the course)
Course- For the marathon you start in Jackson hole. For about 3 miles you go through the city and neighborhoods. Running on the road. At about mile 3 you get on a bike path that goes outside the city. This is when it gets really nice. You then run south for about 7 miles and you can really start to see the mountains its so gorgeous in the early mourning. Then mile 7-13you go north. Around mile 10 i saw a fox cut in-between two runners ahead of me. It was so cool and crazy. There is chances of seeing moose and elk on the trail and even a small chance of a bear. So be on the look out for wildlife anytime. At 13.1 you then get to the spot the half marathoners start. Witch is back on the road for about 3 loop running a long different ranches. Then miles 16-26 are the best. You will also be joined by the quarter marathoners. You running north towards the Tetons and Teton village. You can see snow on top of the mountains. Its so beautiful. You really cant get any better scenery in the whole US then this. You finish in the beautiful Teton village.
Volunteers at the aid stations were really nice. Note this is a paperless marathon. Meaning you will have to carry your own cups. They will have water and Gatorade at each aid station, but they don’t have any cups. So if your not use to carrying cups. You might want to practice with them. Crowd support is also low, if that maters for you. You could have a good distance between you and the other runners infront and behind you. The time limit is 6 hours, however, they do have an early start of 30 minutes if you need it.
Medal- Medal was awesome. this year it was a bear print with a bear in it. Other years i have seen they done other animals/mountainous. So they keep it up with the theme of the race.
Difficulty- This will be an easy marathon. Its not hilly. Never going to be to hot or humid. If it rains it might suck, but you can say that about any race. However, the only thing that could make this hard is the altitude. altitude has never impacted my running, but this could impact yours. Make sure you stay extra hydrated.
Only negative about this race is its expensive. Jackson hole not an easy place to travel too and hotels all around are expensive. However, you can visit both Teton and Yellowstone national park witch i did and highly recommend. Even if you don’t want to hike. Just driving around and pulling over at the stops in the two parks is worth it.
I have only done 7 marathons, but this is my favorite, its well organized, its beautiful, and easy. Highly Recommend this for Wyoming.

Chicago Marathon is one of the best. I was lucky enough to get in on the lottery system. Witch I believe is roughly a 50% chance. You can also get in through time qualification and a charity.

First the convection was huge. It reminder me of a comic con convection. Huge hall with tons of people. It was very efficient and well organized. Only negative was I went later on Saturday and I could tell some of the clothing items were selling out. I would recommend to go earlier in the week if you looking to shop at it.

On race day I left my hotel at 6:15 am. It was about a mile away. Once I got through security and to my coral it was about 7. They recommend you get their 2 hours before your start time. However, you could get away with 1-1.5 hours before your start time. You do have to go through security, but it was fast and efficient. Only negative about pre-race was the bathroom lines were longer then my previous marathons. They could use some more toilets’ at the start.

The race its self was amazing. Really easy course. You start by going north out of the downtown area for about 8 miles. Then the next 5 you come back to the downtown area. You then go west towards the United Center. Then you slowly start going south east till mile 23. After that its back north through downtown and the finish line witch is also in Grant Park (same as the start line). Little to No hills on the course.

Their is about 40,000 people all running the marathon during this race. The course is crowded with other runners the whole time. I did not mind it, but I can see this as negative to some.

In 2022 it was perfect temperature mourning in the 40s. Afternoon in the 60s. However, you never know in the Mid-West what you will get. Aid stations were every 1.5 miles or so. Had ton of Gatorade, Water, Toilets, and even a medical tent with Biofreeze and other helpful items. Later ones had Bananas and a couple had Gels.

I hurt my knee a tad so I did not get a personal best. However, this is a course I can see many people getting a personal best on. Especially if the weather is good.

The crowd support lives up to the hype. The whole race their was always a ton of people cheering you on. The people of Chicago really came out to this. Volunteers were helpful at start, finish line, and at the aid stations. They were excellent. Finally the medal was really cool. Nothing to fancy, but it represents Chicago well. T-shirt was fine.

I would recommend this Marathon to anyone. There a reason this is a World Major and one of the most popular marathons in the world. It extremely well organized, easy course, and excellent crowd support. 5/5 for Chicago.

Very historic race. You spend about 90% of the race running through the park. It’s basically two loops around the park. The first loop you will be with half marathoners and will have a good amount of people around you. The second loop really thins out. I had large amount of times especially in the more wooded areas were I’d not see anyone for a mile plus. There some spectators, but not many. It was very cool running through the park with no one on site for over a mile at time. Very well organized and put together race. It was decently hilly though. So parts of it are a challenge. However, weather should be good and not to hot. Would recommend.

The race starts really early at 5:30 am. The earliest of any marathon I done. You run through the 4 parks witch is great. The first one Epcot it is still completely dark. You see people in the second park you arrive to at Magic Kingdom. Then you have a long stretch of back roads till you get to an empty animal kingdom and finally lots of people through Hollywood studios and running a long the hotels. You can take a lot of pictures with different Disney characters like Mikey, Tinkerbell, etc. However, lines can be long so watch your time. Course is mainly flat. Only negative part it can be really humid. In 2019 it was close to record temps and humidity. So running in Florida you always have that risk. Even in January. Overall extremely well done and family friendly. Was my first marathon and would recommend this to anyone.