17th Annual Chicago Half Marathon

Ran the Chicago Half Marathon this year.
Packet Pickup – Packet pick-​up at Navy Pier was quick and easy. They even had laptops available to look up your bib number if you did not have it beforehand. The registration packet was pretty bad. All you got was your bib, the shirt, and some gummies. I have done 5ks that give you more (and cooler) stuff with the registration packet at half the price of this race.
Parking – There is no designated parking lot, so you have to get there early enough to find parking in the area. I did the VIP registration so that I would have a guaranteed parking space. The VIP parking lot was only a block and a half away from the starting line. Great spot!
Amenities – There were plenty of port-​o-​potties in the race village. For the VIP registration, there is a designated VIP area with its own washroom facilities. They were not in very good condition, so I ended up using the ones in the Race Village.
Course – You line up at your assigned corral and the race starts in waves. I was in the D corral and was only delayed by about 20 – 30 seconds from the time the gun went off. The race starts in Jackson Park and then goes onto the southern park of Lake Shore Drive. They just redid the pavement the day before, so it was cool running on it before any cars were even able to drive on it. The temperature was in the lower 60s and sunny. It wasn’t too hot, but there is barely any shade on the drive. There were plenty of water stations (much more than other half marathons that I have done), so that was a definite plus. Along the route there are people cheering you on. On the last couple of miles there are occasional spray stations that will help cool you down. The race heading north has a great view of the lake and the skyline. The view back is nonexistent. The race ends right past the Statute of the Republic in Jackson Park. After you pass the finish line, they quickly give you water and your medal.
Post-​race — I went back to the VIP area for a catered breakfast. The food consisted of some spicy potatoes, eggs with salsa, and biscuits. It was not very good and there was nothing special about it. The VIP area was pretty empty, probably because of the high registration price. I was disappointed as I expected to receive better quality food for the price. In the Race Village, they gave away Lou Malnati’s Pizza for free, which tasted a lot better than the food in the VIP area.
Overall Experience – The race is very well organized. I only did the VIP registration so that I would have a guaranteed parking space. Otherwise, I would definitely not recommend it. Just pay the regular registration fee and take public transportation or get there extra early to find parking.
I was not too excited about the course. While it was cool to run on Lake Shore Drive, I am not too enthusiastic about the location of the race. I live on the north side of the City, so it was not the most convenient area to get to. I don’t think I would run it again, but I would recommend it to others.

I would definitely run this again, and would like to do the Windy City Challenge next year!
The packet pickup was quick and easy at Navy Pier, so it was fun to make a day of it plus get discounted parking. It’s nice to visit the touristy spots every now and again.
We were dropped off by friends familiar with the Southside so that was also easy. The weather for 2013 was warm and muggy but overall not bad. They weren’t regulating corrals — if that makes a difference to anyone. I started too far forward and for the first 6 miles EVERYONE was passing me. It was nice to see after the turn around and heading back southbound on Lake Shore that I wasn’t last like I believed I was! There was a fair amount of spectators but it DID fall on the same day as the first Regular Season game for the Bears. I suppose we were competing for attention.
Best part? Lou Malnati’s at the end! Hit the spot!
Maybe we finished early enough that things didn’t run out. Personally I was pleased with this entire event. Awesome volunteers!

They ran out of beer… little Dixie cups of beer and they ran out.
All I can say, is a race shouldn’t run out of beer. Ever. Keep the beer coming, I ran 13.1 miles!
Aside from that– the race is hard to get to, but organizers do a great job of providing buses to and from various areas of the city to the location which really helps. Packet pickup is at Navy Pier– so just know you’ll be spending a lot of time to get to and fro on race day and during packet pickup… like anything this big in Chicago, it’s an investment of time and effort– but that’s the life of a runner!
You can do this race as part of the Windy City Challenge with the Allstate 13.1 (which I loved!!) and other than the lack of beer it was fun.