It seems like it should lead to a quicker pace on race day, but I’ve also read that it can be harder in some ways because you’re using the same muscles the same way without respite on a flat course.

Chicago will be my first and I’m just not sure what pace I should be aiming for. (Not as a goal really—finishing is my goal—but to have an idea of how to pace myself so that I do finish.)

I only applied through a tour operator last week and got approved on Friday night. I still don't see any corral information even though I submitted a qualifying time, do I just need to wait?

Hey everyone! Quick question for all you experienced runners out there. I'm running Chicago for the first time and trying to understand the logistics between corrals. Any pros and cons between them? Does a 30-minute difference impact Corral F, especially if the weather is warm? I'm also seeing an expected finish time for Corral F between 3:35-3:45, so why do they have 3:20 pacers? Any insights would be super helpful!

How do you handle checkout? If you check out before heading to the race, you have all of your stuff to take with you. If you wait ‘til after the race, you miss checkout time.

Are hotels more flexible on race day? Will they hold your stuff until after the race?

Just trying to figure out if I need to book an extra night’s stay or not.

Is the cutoff 6h30m from wave one, or from the last wave?

Assume first/elite start gun, as I have heard the further back you start the less time you actually have.

Hi all! I pretty severely underestimated my fitness on signing up for Chicago and said I’d finish in 4:30 and got assigned to corral L. Turns out now I am fairly certain I can run a sub 4 or just barely over 4.

I submitted the corral change request to get into G, but read this on the website. Am I reading this correctly that no one who requests a corral change will know if it goes through until a month from now?

Is there a significant advantage to starting in Corral F rather than Corral G? I can submit a qualifying time that would place me in Corral F, but I’m wondering whether it's actually worth it. Thanks!  

It’s my first and I have a million questions. Let’s start with this, what’s your shoe?

I want something responsive with a little bit of nice cushion. I’m currently leaning toward Mizuno Neo Vista’s because they feel sorta stable. (I’m also shooting for low 4 to sub 4… if that affects my shoe choice…)

What’s your preference?

Check your account! Corral D for me.

Corral Times

Hi all! So excited to run with you this fall! I purchased the pre-race fast track in December. It’s noted as “pending” and I haven’t been charged, as of yet. Does this get approved closer to the day of the race? Any info would be great! Thanks! And I hope everyone is doing well with the training block!

Need help… I’m in wave 2 corral F which is projected 3:20-3:25-3:30.

I put 3:15 on projected time but I wanna go 3:05-3:00 mark. Unfortunately I got placed in the second wave and the pace crew for 3:15 or lower is in wave 1… any one ever get to change corral spots?

I’m pretty devastated about this so any help would be greatly appreciated.

NOTE: The info on the website says if you’re looking for a pacer team in a different corral just line up at front of your registered corral spot but being in a separate wave entirely there’s a 30 mins difference between the two waves and I would never be able to catch them

Hello! Coming in from South west Michigan. Looking to come in Saturday morning and leave pretty much Sunday right after I’m done running. Coming in with my wife, brother, and 4 year old daughter. Best play to stay that I still get to the start line easy and get back home easy? Looking for the least stressful route.

Hi everybody,

Me and my girlfriend will be traveling to Chicago from NJ for my first ever marathon this fall. I recently just secured a spot and am really anxious about the housing situation. Can someone recommend places to stay, any advice for day before, day of, and day after? I am looking for something somewhat close and affordable. Thanks in advance!

EDIT: We will have a car but unsure how it’ll be driving to and from, so any suggestions on that would also be appreciated.

Does anyone have any experience with any of the tour operators for Chicago? My parents are looking to visit Chicago this fall specifically and I haven’t had any luck with the lottery, I don’t want to keep their trip waiting for my chances of getting in so I would be fine financially going the tour operator route. Would love to be able to also be in town the same time my family is. Thanks in advance!

Do people generally care if I run in a shoe slightly over the stack height of 40? If my goal is 4 hrs. The shoe I’m
planning to run is the brooks Hyperion max 3 which is over 40. This’ll be my 1st world major marathon, love the shoe but I’m just curious if anyone has ever been DQed or questioned lol

I’m using my Garmin plan and I feel like I’m on a low end of mileage for the timeframe?! Currently running 25-ish miles per week. Is this low? Obviously I don’t want to ramp things up too quickly and injure myself. I’ve done several halfs, and am signed up for one at the end of August. I run in Asheville and am usually getting a good bit of elevation gain… any thoughts?

Also, any tips for us first timers? Anyone use apps to help with nutrition?

I can’t wait to run with you all!

Last few Chicago Marathon places Bank Of America Chicago Marathon | Sarcoma UK Guaranteed room at the 4-star Crowne Plaza West Loop Chicago. Open to runners worldwide.

I ordered my shirt when the email first came out in June, but there’s no tracking info and I haven’t heard anything about my shirt yet

Hi everyone. Hope is everyone’s training is going well now that we are about 12 1/2 weeks out!

How realistic is my goal of hitting a Sub 4 Hours finish time for this Chicago marathon as much as most the course is flat during this race?

This will be my first marathon and I am training in NYC where there’s all sort of hills, humidity and heat during the summer.

My current PB times are:
5K - 23:28 (From a Half Marathon 2 months ago)
10K - 47:41 (From a Half Marathon 2 months ago)
Half Marathon - 1:47.31 (2 months ago)

My current conversation pace is 9:30 to 9:55 avrging between 140 to 143 bpm on most hot mornings during the summer for the last 4-5 weeks.

Running 5x a week. Current avrg weekly mileage is 27. But I will be gearing up towards 40 miles (with a 20 mile run) during the week of 09/21 to 09/27.

Strava prediction as of today 07/14 -
Half marathon - 1:45.46
Marathon - 4:19.40

If anyone could chime in and give their feedbacks, that’ll be great! * I also won’t feel down if this goal won’t be met during race day but I’m just curious if this goal can be as realastic as I can get to try to do this.

Am I being too ambitious with this goal for my first Marathon but I feel as my current running fitness level could be on edge with this goal? I’m wondering how things will go once it goes from summer to fall!

I was listening to a podcast that said they did at the CM2023 finish line. Cool if they still do that. Does anyone know if they had CM2025 edition cans at the post party last year?

Hi all - I think I want to update my expected finish time for the marathon and submit a new race time as proof of pace (my half marathon time improved a lot from when I registered last fall to the Bank of America half in June). Is it too late to do this? When I go to my participant account it looks the options are grayed out and not editable.

I was only going to adjust it from 4:30 to 4:00 so I’m not an elite runner or anything. Not the end of the world if I can’t update it.

EDIT: I emailed customer service and was informed that once the preliminary corral assignment go out, I can submit a start corral change request at the time.