Chicago Marathon - 12th Oct 2014

belcarra

Website
Registration
2012's Thread
2011's Thread

Anyone looking to give this a crack in 2013?
I think I've seen it mentioned in a couple of posts.

I fully intend signing up when reg opens in February. This will be my Autumn target marathon (Need to settle on a Spring marathon yet!:rolleyes:).
They have pacer groups every 5 mins from 3hrs to 4hrs.
Should be a good course for a pb provided Krusty doesn't return with the hot weather!
Also, they have a team aspect to it where groups from 4-10 people compete versus other teams which could be good if there were enough boardsies heading over...:)

Anyone do it this year and if so any comments?

blockic

Yep, I'll be in for this one. Going to be based in Chicago during it next year so it will be my autumn marathon.

Will need to be fast once registration opens though I believe?

Edit: Last year's thread is full of information also!:D

Krusty_Clown

belcarra wrote: »

Anyone do it this year and if so any comments?

Bring gloves and a scarf... and sun-screen.

village runner

Did it this year. Didn't race it but really enjoyed it. Booked apartment in the aqua right beside fairmont hotel. 10 min to start and from finish. If and when I do it again I will def stay there. 4 of us stayed 5 nights for 500 a man. Class apartment with everything there. Made up of double bed and another room with queen bed. Also a fold up couch. When no kettle in apt I rang and had one within 2 hours. Pacers every 5 min is great. Don't use mobile over there. Cost me nearly 100 for the 5 days.
I put it above Berlin but still it's begins london

Peckham

This is my A Goal for next year. No spring marathon, but instead a few shorter distance targets in spring/early summer and then all guns blazing for this. Brother-in-law lives there, so free accommodation.

Based on last year we will need to be quick out of the blocks for registration.

Wonder what the cut-off time for Coral A will be. Will be hoping a fast half marathon will be sufficient, as I've no recent marathon.

village runner

Peckham wrote: »

This is my A Goal for next year. No spring marathon, but instead a few shorter distance targets in spring/early summer and then all guns blazing for this. Brother-in-law lives there, so free accommodation.

Based on last year we will need to be quick out of the blocks for registration.

Wonder what the cut-off time for Coral A will be. Will be hoping a fast half marathon will be sufficient, as I've no recent marathon.

I reckon your 2.58 in 2010 will get you into corral a. I think A is sub 3.15 because I went into coral B from A. Even from B I was over the line within 1 minute.

Peckham

village runner wrote: »

I reckon your 2.58 in 2010 will get you into corral a. I think A is sub 3.15 because I went into coral B from A. Even from B I was over the line within 1 minute.

Would have thought 2010 was too long ago to be relevant! Did a Google search and it looks like a 1:25 half will be sufficient, which I'd hope to run in the Spring.

Krusty_Clown

Peckham wrote: »

Would have thought 2010 was too long ago to be relevant! Did a Google search and it looks like a 1:25 half will be sufficient, which I'd hope to run in the Spring.

After registration they offer you the opportunity to fax them in proof of a race result, which is used to assign your starting corral. Don't think they have any criteria about when you ran it (it's not like Boston's qualification criteria). Also, if you improve your corral seeding time in the interim, you can just send them a new fax, and they'll update your starting corral as appropriate. Corral A rocks!

jfh

krusty, you're a foreign marathon aficionado, how would chicago compare to berlin or london? actually not sure if you did london,
i'm keen to do an overseas marathon & don't have the qualifying times for boston or london(yet!)

Krusty_Clown

jfh wrote: »

krusty, you're a foreign marathon aficionado, how would chicago compare to berlin or london? actually not sure if you did london,
i'm keen to do an overseas marathon & don't have the qualifying times for boston or london(yet!)

I haven't done London yet. Ask me again in April!

As Village Runner said, it's a cracking marathon. Chicago is a wonderful city, with fantastic history, architecture, food and fun. The marathon itself is really well organized, really well supported and as flat as any marathon you'll find in the world. There's one tiny climb, just as you turn the final corner to the finish line. That's it. Water is in cups, which is a bit of a pain in the a$$, but that's pretty much par for the course in the marathon majors (with the exception of London). The only real negative I can come up with is that the weather is a bit of a roll of the dice (but that also is true of all of the marathon majors). However Chicago in October can vary between some pretty wild extremes, with both freezing cold conditions and very warm weather in recent years. If you have a chance to do Chicago, I would say: go for it. It's a great race. If the weather turns against you, enjoy the experience, and save your PB attempt for another day.

jfh

yeah the dream is there alright, glad to hear it's a good city as i'd be bringing the whole gang & want them to enjoy it. it's def one i'm going to try to do.
great to hear they accept half marathon times, got a sub 1:20 half from charleville too which would get me into corral A as my marathon times are crap.

Krusty_Clown

jfh wrote: »

yeah the dream is there alright, glad to hear it's a good city as i'd be bringing the whole gang & want them to enjoy it. it's def one i'm going to try to do.
great to hear they accept half marathon times, got a sub 1:20 half from charleville too which would get me into corral A as my marathon times are crap.

As mentioned above, hotels are very expensive (figure on around $350 per night), so if travelling with the family, it might be an idea to look for an apartment now, which requires no deposit/prepayment (so you can cancel if you don't get in). You'll have much greater choice now, because as soon as they open marathon registration, people naturally look for accommodation as soon as they get confirmation that they are accepted for the race. The city is very safe, and we had no problems wandering around at 4am to get porridge (oatmeal in American). If you are planning a slightly longer holiday (vacation ), then I would take just one or two days before the race and enjoy a few days over there after the race, that way you won't have aclimatised fully before the race, so getting up at 4 or 5 am for brekkie will feel like a lie-in. Then you can really enjoy a few days of great food, beer and wine after the race.

The river architectural tour is fab and is a great thing to do, the day before the race (as it involves just sitting around enjoying the views and the history of the city). Advisable to book at least 4-5 weeks beforehand, as it's very popular. Will recommend some restaurants and bars at a later date.

jfh

village runner wrote: »

Did it this year. Didn't race it but really enjoyed it. Booked apartment in the aqua right beside fairmont hotel. 10 min to start and from finish. If and when I do it again I will def stay there. 4 of us stayed 5 nights for 500 a man. Class apartment with everything there. Made up of double bed and another room with queen bed. Also a fold up couch. When no kettle in apt I rang and had one within 2 hours. Pacers every 5 min is great. Don't use mobile over there. Cost me nearly 100 for the 5 days.
I put it above Berlin but still it's begins london

hi village runner, would you have the details of that apartment?
many thanks

jfh

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

As mentioned above, hotels are very expensive (figure on around $350 per night), so if travelling with the family, it might be an idea to look for an apartment now, which requires no deposit/prepayment (so you can cancel if you don't get in). You'll have much greater choice now, because as soon as they open marathon registration, people naturally look for accommodation as soon as they get confirmation that they are accepted for the race. The city is very safe, and we had no problems wandering around at 4am to get porridge (oatmeal in American). If you are planning a slightly longer holiday (vacation ), then I would take just one or two days before the race and enjoy a few days over there after the race, that way you won't have aclimatised fully before the race, so getting up at 4 or 5 am for brekkie will feel like a lie-in. Then you can really enjoy a few days of great food, beer and wine after the race.

The river architectural tour is fab and is a great thing to do, the day before the race (as it involves just sitting around enjoying the views and the history of the city). Advisable to book at least 4-5 weeks beforehand, as it's very popular. Will recommend some restaurants and bars at a later date.

very informative, good idea about taking a few days off afterwards rather than before, that makes sense o someone who's done a marathon overseas but i was thinking i should be aclimatising etc, re the apartment, working on it, thanks

Peckham

For Boston earlier this year, I arrived on the Friday (flight landing lunchtime) to race on the Monday. To be honest I felt that was too much time in the city waiting around to race, and arriving two days before the race would be better.

If travelling to Chicago (Sunday morning race), I'd aim to arrive Friday afternoon (do the expo Friday evening, chill out/city tour on Saturday).

The jetlag is in your advantage, and you're better off not having fully adjusted yet - i.e. a 4am wake-up call on the Sunday, being equivalent to late morning at home.

The_Boy_Wonder

I'll be hoping to get in for this when it opens in Feb. I have a reminder set in the phone already so I don't miss the boat!

Krusty... when you say leave the PB attempt for another... is that because of the risk the weather won't be on your side or the crowds or a combination of both and/or other factors? I always get carried away when I here a course is flat, that straight away it'd be a PB course.
Or maybe you just feel it's one of those marathon's to enjoy and take the day in rather than pegging it around the course with all your focus on time and forgetting to enjoy some of it?

Either way I'll be trying to get in but interested whether I might consider planning another race 4/5 weeks before or after Chicago to target a PB

belcarra

The_Boy_Wonder wrote: »

Krusty... when you say leave the PB attempt for another... is that because of the risk the weather won't be on your side or the crowds or a combination of both and/or other factors? I always get carried away when I here a course is flat, that straight away it'd be a PB course.
Or maybe you just feel it's one of those marathon's to enjoy and take the day in rather than pegging it around the course with all your focus on time and forgetting to enjoy some of it?

Either way I'll be trying to get in but interested whether I might consider planning another race 4/5 weeks before or after Chicago to target a PB

I think Krusty is simply referring to last year when there were high temps and in that case take the sensible option and know that a pb won't happen.
However, if the weather is fair then rip it up!!

village runner

I will send u on where I stayed on Friday.although 2k for 5 nights is expensive you then spend feic all for the time you are there. I def would stay in apartment again. Food out there is poor or at least hard to get nice grub for the marathon.

sideswipe

Thinking of giving this a go too, anybody know what date entries open? The_Boy_Wonder mentions feb above but I can't seem to find the exact date anywhere.

belcarra

sideswipe wrote: »

Thinking of giving this a go too, anybody know what date entries open? The_Boy_Wonder mentions feb above but I can't seem to find the exact date anywhere.

I'm thinking around 1st/2nd of Feb too.
Think that was when it opened last year...
Keep an eye out here and we'll all be shouting about it when it does open!

Krusty_Clown

The_Boy_Wonder wrote: »

Krusty... when you say leave the PB attempt for another...

I didn't say that. I said, 'if the weather turns against you.....save your pb attempt for another day'. If you get a good day, then it is absolutely a PB course (in fact, better than most (four world records have been achieved on this course)).

Also, don't listen to Village Runner about the food. He's talking tosh! Chicago is the food (and beer!) capital of the Unites States! Just don't be going for Chicago's deep-pan pizza before the race. Chicago has some of the best steak-houses and Italian restaurants in the US, and a wide variety at different price-points.

The_Boy_Wonder

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

I didn't say that. I said, 'if the weather turns against you.....save your pb attempt for another day'. If you get a good day, then it is absolutely a PB course (in fact, better than most (four world records have been achieved on this course)).

Also, don't listen to Village Runner about the food. He's talking tosh! Chicago is the food (and beer!) capital of the Unites States! Just don't be going for Chicago's deep-pan pizza before the race. Chicago has some of the best steak-houses and Italian restaurants in the US, and a wide variety at different price-points.

Gotcha. Muchas gracias

sideswipe

From the website-

Registration for the 2013 Bank of America Chicago Marathon will open on Tuesday, February 19, at 12 p.m. (Central Standard Time (6pm Irish). The registration fee is $175 for U.S. participants and $200 for participants outside of the U.S. Registration will close when the participant capacity of 45,000 is reached.

village runner

sideswipe wrote: »

From the website-

Registration for the 2013 Bank of America Chicago Marathon will open on Tuesday, February 19, at 12 p.m. (Central Standard Time (6pm Irish). The registration fee is $175 for U.S. participants and $200 for participants outside of the U.S. Registration will close when the participant capacity of 45,000 is reached.

Very exp. 150 euro is quiet dear. We went this yearon the Wednesday. Friday would be ideal the nxt time. Could even get Thr expo done.

ThePiedPiper

Good chance I'm going to be signing up for Chicago this year. A mate of mine lives out there, so accom should be free. Thinking of going out on the Friday morning, and flying home at 3 on the Sunday afternoon, back into Dublin at 7am on Monday for work!!

For anyone who went last year, do Aer Lingus have an Autumn sale at any stage? Can't justify paying 705 for the direct flight versus 580 for a short stop enroute.

blockic

Just a heads up that registration for this is open next Tuesday at 6pm (Irish Time)

belcarra

blockic wrote: »

Just a heads up that registration for this is open next Tuesday at 6pm (Irish Time)

Shussh, don't tell too many!:p

Steroo

This caught my attention today, and I'm considering doing it with a friend as alternative to dcm. Budget depending. Can anyone advise what area would be best to book accom? Or good value within a reasonable commute? Thanks

ThePiedPiper

If my free accom with a friend doesn't work out, expedia seem to do good deals when booking flights and hotel together. I might go with a flight/hotel out in the sticks/rental car combo as there's very little in the way of value in downtown.

I'm going to hold out for a while on flights, as there's a good chance Aer Lingus or AA will have a sale at some stage.

I reckon this will be selling out fast this year with the NYC marathon issues still very fresh.

The_Boy_Wonder

Registration completed, so this is the Autumn marathon for me. 8 months to get in shape for it!

Anyone else in?

blockic

The_Boy_Wonder wrote: »

Registration completed, so this is the Autumn marathon for me. 8 months to get in shape for it!

Anyone else in?

Looks like you broke it! Getting an error at the moment, looks like the Active.com site is down.

Entered details twice but then it crashed.