As best I can tell this is the Chicago Marathon for amateurs. Almost as large at 37,000 but nowhere near as well organized. Start was delayed. Corrals were irrelevant. I never found the Ghiradelli hot chocolate at the end of the race. Course included most of the downtown and west side of the marathon route with none of the pretty parts. and I was badly outsprinted at the end by a woman in a banana costume.
That being said, it was great weather, the wind jacket in the goody bag was very nice (if weirdly sized), I saw parts of the west side just past the United Center that appear to be gentrifying surprisingly fast, I finished in the top third of the race with a sub 83 minute time (pr for this distance), and nothing bad happened to be my feet.
Overall a decent way to end of the season and try one more mid-distance race post marathon.
Banana? Was she there for fondue?
ReplyDelete