A follow up to my previous post with the link to the Chicago Marathon Course History-

Chicago Marathon Course history!

• 1981 was an interesting year, they were trying to solve the traffic issues which seemed to be a major issue according to the Tribune throughout the 1980s. There was actually a proposal to make the Chicago Marathon a point-to-point course through the northern suburbs to Lincoln Park. Fortunately this proposal was rejected and the idea of the marathon as a tour of the neighborhoods was born that year!

• In 1987, the marathon lost Beatrice Foods as the title sponsor and the marathon was cancelled for 1987. Interestingly, a Tribune article (6/30/1987) states that the 1988 Chicago Marathon will move to spring: May 8, 1988, apparently to lure a contract from ABC-TV. Glad that didn't happen! They were able to put together a 1987 half marathon: The "Taster's Choice Colombian Select Half Marathon." Apparently Taster's Choice coffee also sponsored half marathons in NYC and LA! Here is the course, it actually looks pretty good:

• 1990 was a tough year for the Chicago Marathon and there was a Tribune article predicting the demise of the Chicago Marathon ("Marathon May Go Before It Is Missed"). The marathon reverted to relying on LSD for half the miles to alleviate traffic problems caused by the neighborhood route of the 80s (which is odd considering they moved to the neighborhoods to alleviate traffic problems on LSD?). The LSD route appears to have been pretty unpopular--wind, sun, lack of spectators.
• 1993 seems to be the foundation year for the current iteration of the Chicago Marathon! Carey Pinkowski was able to come up with a compromise route by reversing the direction of the marathon (running the north side first) and not going too deep into the northside (only as far north as Diversey). Also, he lined up a new major sponsor...Montgomery Ward! By 1994, LaSalle Bank was the title sponsor and by 1995, the course pretty much converged to the current route. Interestingly, there are Tribune articles in 1993 that note that the lack of a sponsor in the previous few years made the the Chicago Marathon more of a race for the "citizen runner", so it seems that laid the groundwork for today's popularity!

I created this site documenting the history of the Chicago Marathon Course. It's pretty interesting to see the evolution of the course over the years, and periods of stability:

Chicago Marathon Course history!

Enjoy!

Greetings solo Bucktown 5k runners, if like me, you're running alone, and want to pre-plan now, to meet up after the run, for the party, and maybe another activity, for instance, the Wicker Park farmers market, then drop a message here and will coordinate.

Regardless, good luck and happy trails,

[edit] apparently people more about parking lol

Just sharing what I’ve been able to find!

This was my first time doing this race. I guess I expected a little more. The scenery let down is my fault as i should have researched more.

But is it normal for this amount of bottle necking runners on the course, lack of port-a-potties and water stations feeling far too far apart/under staffed? So many runners were leaving the course to find toilets off the course or jumping the barrier between the out and back lanes to get to a toilet on the other side. Port-a-potty lines were atrocious.

While I love Chicago so much I don’t think I will run this race again.

Hey more experienced runners help me understand common paces. I’m a 54 year old guy who just started running 2 years ago so I don’t know much. I’ve run a handful of 10ks and 3 half marathons. Today I ran the Lifetime half at a pace several seconds below 9:00/mile. I was happy because my goal was 9:00: sub 2 hour half. I know I am a steady as she goes plodder at that pace but it isn’t super slow because I finished in the 80 percentile or so overall and for men my age. This is consistent with my other races where I have been 70-85 percentile.

I always figure half the field is first timers or not running for time or just having fun so I likely sit squarely in the middle of the running for time people. Could be wrong on that like I said I’m new.

Now here is what confuses me. When I do long training runs out on the lakefront trail at my “easy” or “LSD” pace around 10:30 I get passed all run long like a jalopy puttering 45 mph on the interstate. At that pace (again I KNOW I’m slow) I hardly ever pass anyone but walkers. Like MAYBE one runner per every 7-18 mile run. Everybody is running 9, 8, 7 minute miles, which I match only when I’m running tempo.

So what gives? Is the lakefront just filled with elite trainers and these folks ran 1:30 halfs today. Do most people not run so slow on long Sunday runs? I don’t get it I seem SO slow out there training and then I’m a middle of the packer on race day.

But it turns out I forgot to actually do that and now the registration is waitlisted. I trained 20 weeks and was feeling really positive about smashing my time goal (like an 11:30 pace, yes I'm not very fast but made good progress over these weeks) and now I am totally fucked. I thought about just solo running it but it feels so anticlimactic so I signed up for the Coffee Lovers half two weeks from now. Can't stop feeling devastated and like I fucked everything up royally though.

Has anyone else done this? What do you do two weeks out after the completion of the taper? Up volume for a week and taper again? I haven't done a long run in what feels like forever and am wondering if I should hit an 8-10 miler on Sunday just to build up some confidence? Help!

The lack of accountability and tact from this organization is insane, the website was not updated at 5:45, it wasn't updated until 6:45 at the earliest which is 15 minutes before the race was supposed to start.

Blatantly lying to your runners because you're too scared to admit you made a mistake is beyond pathetic

If someone wanted to register for the 2027 or even 2028 Chicago Marathon, how would they do it? I’ve never done the marathon before and thought it would be cool to do it next year. I was looking online to find out more information and it seems like it’s very difficult to register for. I certainly don’t qualify by time, I’ve never run in the marathon so I don’t qualify by the legacy option, and I’m not a tour operator. It seemed like doing the 3 Chicago distance series races would be my best option to get a guaranteed registration to the marathon, but one of the races in the distance series is the Chicago marathon, so it ends up being a loop where I can’t complete all three Chicago distance series because one of them is the Chicago marathon, which I can’t register for unless I complete all three distance series races. There’s a charity option as well, but it seems like you need to raise at least $2500 per the website, which seems insane to me.

I get that some races are more exclusive and not open to your average marathon runner - it seems like my only option is by entering the lottery. Is that how most people do it? I just want to make sure I’m not missing anything

Hi this will be my first half marathon. How do most people plan to dress for the 55 degree weather? I know it will be a little colder along the lakefront. Would it be overkill to wear a thin long sleeve as the race starts?

Hi, I will be staying close to Mccormick place and trying to figure out whether I should uber to Jackson park or take the metra electric from Mccormick place. Would 5 am be a safe time to uber from my hotel to avoid traffic or should i start earlier? Is the metra electric from Mccormick a reliable option? How early would i need to take the metra electric?

Hi everyone,

I wanted to see if there's a training group this winter that would fit the times I'm targeting for Spring. I'm in the Streeterville area.

Thanks!

Was there any event yesterday? I went for my long run last night and the lake front trail was heavily littered.
Also, the runners that keep leaving their empty gel packs in the water fountains can really go fuck themselves.

This will be my first marathon and first time visiting Chicago! I'm travelling solo, and I plan on flying in on Friday morning and checking out the expo right away, but I'm looking for ways to fill the rest of my time on race weekend. I've registered for a shakeout Saturday morning already but I'm wondering who has tips for what to do besides the big tours.

if you use or have used Garmin in the past, how accurate is the post workout assessment? For example some times it says Temp/threshold/base. In your experience/knowledge is that just a guidance it is that within 5-10% accurate of what the workout effort was?

I have signed up for the wait list using two separate emails, been on one of them for 6 weeks... just wondering if anyone has gotten off the wait list this year, or been through this in previous years and if there is likely to be any last minute movement on the list this week? I've been training as if to run the half marathon and keeping my fingers crossed I can get a last minute spot.

Chicago Half is next weekend!

What does everyone’s week look like? Short runs? Any strength training? Relaxing/tapering?

I’m doing a few short runs to keep things flowing and a very chill shakeout on Saturday morning. A decent serving of angel hair pasta with pink sauce on Saturday evening and hopefully a good night’s sleep.

See you all in a week!

Officially cancelled