Chicagoland Spring Marathon & Half Marathon

Very nice course. .. I can say that now that I’ve recovered from the mini hill at mile 10.5 over the highway and the slight incline the final 2 miles. Well organized. Enough water stations. Minimal bathroom lines. Only complaint is with the hoodies. They are too feminine. My wife says thanks!

Nice half marathon in Schaumburg. Registration prices are not too expensive and the gear All Community Events gives for this event is usually pretty good (I got the long sleeved half zip shirt with thumb holes a few years ago too and I really like it). Weather is kind of unpredictable, but there is a ton of free parking right next to the race and the course is pretty good overall (except the home stretch right next to the highway is not too exciting). Overall a good race in the suburbs.

–This race is held in May.
–Registration is $ 49 – 65 for the half, $ 75 – 95 for the full.
–Packet pick up at Dick Pond Athletics. This year runners got a long sleeved half zip tech shirt with thumb holes, it’s a really nice shirt… but just not for the hot weather expected on race day.
–Weather in May is unpredictable, 2012’s race was hot and humid. Over 70 degrees at 7am!
–The start and finish line were located in the business park just West of Busse Woods so there was plenty of parking in the designated corporate lots.
–Race kicked off at 7:05am, at which time I’m still in a daze… so I just thought I was having a bad dream that I was running a half marathon in the uncomfortable heat/​humidity.
–It was a fairly large turnout for the race, crowding was the worst right at the start. The start line was no more than 5 – 6′ wide, in which the mass of runners had to funnel and merge to get through the starting corral.
–Holy port-​a-​potty. There was a wall of port-​a-​pots, enough to accommodate all the runners before the start with a minimal wait. But where are the trashcans? It took me forever to find a garbage.
–The race course was nice, narrow (about 5′ wide) in some areas and spacious in others. Runners had to be mindful of the two way traffic in narrow areas. I say two way traffic because most of the course was looping, out and back down three different paths inside the forest preserve and then back to the start.
–Marathon vs. Half Marathon. The marathon runners ran the same course as the half marathon runners, but when they reached the start/​end for the half marathoners they had to keep going and rerun the same route one more time. I’m just glad I didn’t run a full marathon, the combination of the heat and then the tease of running past the finish line at the point when I’m usually ready to call it a day.
–Overall, I really liked the course, despite the looping and two way traffic. There were some good shaded spots and I’ve really come to enjoy runs through the park.
–Water/​Gatorade stations were heavily staffed, well organized and spaced throughout the course. Gatorade came in blue and purple… two colors I haven’t seen on race day in a while (it’s usually Yellow). Some of the Gatorade’s cups I snatched tasted watered down while others were almost concentrated.
–Post race goodies were okay; banana’s, orange halves, mini pretzels, icee pops, granola bars, fruit snacks and Matt’s cookies. I was surprised I actually found myself longing for a bagel, everything felt like high sugar junk food to me.
–Finishers medal, IMHO it’s quite an ugly medal. I plain square piece of grey metal with engraving. It’s probably the simplest metal I have in my growing collection.
4 stars because I ran another PR, otherwise I’d say more like 3−½.
I might run again… only because I could get in the top three for my age group with a little more training.