Chicago Marathon - Oct 8th 2023

py · 13-12-2022 01:52PM #1

Who is in for the 2023 edition?

I've started looking at flights and they have gone up about €100 since I checked last week so I'm likely booking soon. What do people recommend with regards to what days to fly? I was looking at Thursday to Monday.

Any recommendations on where to stay? No idea on cost of this just yet but going to start looking today.

I recall they don't allow running vests/camelbaks so I'm going to have start working on my gel consumption in the run up to the race.

13-12-2022 04:35PM

Here's my feedback from running it in 2022

I booked my flights at the end of December 2022, and they cost about €550

I flew Dublin -> Chicago with Aer Lingus. Flew out on the Friday, and home on the Tuesday.

I stayed here in the Hilton Garden Inn Downtown Riverwalk https://www.hilton.com/en/hotels/chinlgi-hilton-garden-inn-chicago-downtown-riverwalk/?SEO_id=GMB-AMER-GI-CHINLGI&y_source=1_MjQ5NzY1MC03MTUtbG9jYXRpb24ud2Vic2l0ZQ%3D%3D

Locationwise, and cost wise, it was ideal. 10 minute walk to the start and finish line. Cost me a little over €1000. Booked in January or February with booking.com, so that I had free cancellation, in case anything cheaper came up. Nothing did

It's also close to the train for the expo. Take the orange line electric train. Drops you in the expo arena

Its a very basic hotel, but I was on my own, so didnt care.

I didnt bother doing the official 5km on the Saturday morning. Definitely had some fomo on the Saturday morning, when I saw the crowds, but I just went for a run along the riverwalk myself, and it was packed with runners at 7am. Was one of the highlights of my stay to be honest. Loved running along the river.

No vests or camelbacks, and drinks on the course are all in paper cups. I thought that was fine. Other people dont like that. Best get used to it

13-12-2022 05:01PM

Also, I stayed on Irish time for the whole trip. Or at least made no effort to acclimatise.

I was down at the start line for the marathon at around 6am. It was cold at that time. Prepare for it. Bring clothes you are happy to discard

Also, I got a prepaid US e SIM. Worth it

adrian522 · 13-12-2022 05:19PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058275660/chicago-marathon-oct-8th-2023

I'd say hang on for an Aer Lingus sale. I booked tickets March or April and there was a €100 off sale the following week :(

You should be getting direct return flights for under €500 at the very least.

scotindublin · 14-12-2022 12:29AM

For 2022, I stayed in at the Crowne Plaza in the Westloop area of Chicago it was about 1.5 miles down to Grant Park from there, an ideal walk down on the morning of the marathon. They laid out loads of water/fruit and protein bars in reception on the marathon morning which was a nice touch.

Flew over on the Thursday with United (was due to be direct but in the end they changed this to go through Washington which wasn't ideal, one of the lads in work flew American Airlines with no issues).

Got the train down to the Expo on the Friday which was handy, public transport in the city is really good....also got the train from O'Hare on arrival.

Actually signed up to the 5k but didn't run it in the end as I didn't fancy 2 early mornings hanging around in the cold.

On the day itself I was down in Grant Park for just after 6am so bring clothes to discard and water/ fruit or whatever you snack on before running. Great setup before and after the race though. Plenty of water stations on the course but def practise drinking from plastic cups if you can.....the pinch method works well.

One thing I would suggest is booking somewhere to eat on the Saturday well in advance.

It's a class marathon you will have a great time.......oh and there is only really one hill it just happens to come at 26 miles 😀.

Any specific questions just shout.

C

py · 14-12-2022 10:38AM

Thanks for all the information thus far. I really appreciate it.

I don't mind the cups of water, I've just always carried my fuel/water with me for marathon races. What's the reason for the ban on running vests/camelbaks? Security?

14-12-2022 01:48PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119994763#Comment_119994763

Not sure of the reasoning, but it felt like they had water/gaterade stations every couple of kms.

I basically took a drink at 2 out of every 3 stops, and was never worried about where my next drink would come from.

Interesting point made by scotindublin

"Actually signed up to the 5k but didn't run it in the end as I didn't fancy 2 early mornings hanging around in the cold."

Never thought of that. It was nice, just waking up early on Saturday morning, and doing my own run, rather than another event.

scotindublin · 15-12-2022 07:50AM

Great point on the water stations they were very regular on the route, I ended up taking on water at most of them. Also they were huge so there was no need to panic and try and get to the early tables. I think they all had water and gatorade.

Another thing to consider is that for the first few miles your GPS will be all over the place as you will be running in downtown Chicago, so don't get stressed out if your pace is not quite right during this part of the route.

It was my first mara major and the sheer scale of the operation is really impressive, I am actually just back from Malaga (ran the 1/2 at the weekend) and while a great event it really was very low key compared to Chicago.

Once you get a hotel booked check with them on the breakfast situation on the morning itself, I ended up just getting a couple of bagles from a local deli on the Saturday for the morning itself.

C

adrian522 · 15-12-2022 03:26PM

Recommend turning off autolap and hitting the lap button every mile marker, give you a better idea of your splits as running through tunnels etc downtown makes the GPS unreliable.

Masch8933 · 15-12-2022 03:58PM

I got an entry in the lottery also. Cant wait to run it.

It seems hotels are the really expensive part of the weekend. I actually booked the Congress (across the road from Grant Park) on the day of the lottery with a free cancellation for a very good price but have heard bad things about the hotel now, important to get somewhere comfortable :)

If people dont know him yet check out Kofuzi on youtube, brillliant channel and he is a Chicago native and his Chicago marathon videos are epic

Unknownability · 15-12-2022 10:14PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120000207#Comment_120000207

Kofuzi had a shake out run on the Saturday with free food and t shirts.

py · 23-12-2022 06:48PM

I'm still finalising logistics for this. If I was to book a little further away from the start line, do the trains run early that morning to get me there?

Unknownability · 23-12-2022 11:54PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120029601#Comment_120029601

No, they don't. Stay close you'll enjoy it more.

adrian522 · 24-12-2022 01:20PM

Y

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120029601#Comment_120029601

You should have no issues getting to the start line from anywhere in Chicago, CTA and Metra both have services running from 5:30am.

https://www.transitchicago.com/from-start-to-finish-cta-is-the-best-choice-for-travel-to-and-from-the-2022-bank-of-america-chicago-expo-and-marathon/

https://metra.com/newsroom/chicago-marathon-extra-service

py · 25-12-2022 07:52PM

Just got flights from Aer Lingus for €440 for Thursday arrival and Monday departure. Now to sort accommodation.

MiketheMechanic · 10-02-2023 12:22PM

I'll be there hopefully 😀

Qualified for Chicago with my Boston Marathon time from last April.

Looking forward to the training block over the summer.

Must start looking at flights next month. Probably Shannon-Chicago.

I'll have the wife and two small kids in tow.

Where are the best places that they can watch me run by a few times on the course without having to travel too far?

MtM

adrian522 · 10-02-2023 12:37PM

Well it starts by going up La Salle Street, then comes back down Wells so they could spot you at the 3-4 mile mark and again at the 12 mile mark without having to move more than 1 block.

Crowds are pretty big in this area though.

You could then head down to Michigan avenue for the finish, may want to look into some train option for that as it would be a bit of a walk.

Route is here.

https://assets-chicagomarathon-com.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/2022-Bank-of-America-Chicago-Marathon-Course-Map.pdf

Unknownability · 10-02-2023 12:57PM

Screenshot_2023-02-10-11-56-13-58_e2d5b3f32b79de1d45acd1fad96fbb0f.jpg

Something like that. They will be able to walk along the river walk at whacker drive. Its very front loaded but In theory they could see you three times in the space of 250m. The meet up area after is where I've put an X.

MiketheMechanic · 10-02-2023 01:43PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120223628#Comment_120223628

Thanks Unknownability - that looks very family friendly and doable.

Are there any easy options for the lonely miles from 13-26? Ideally would love if someone could hand me a bottle of Tailwind at mile 20 like my family do at the Droppin Well / 9 Arches on the DCM course 😀 I swear by that stuff - I'm a new man 5 minutes after drinking it.

MtM

Unknownability · 10-02-2023 01:51PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120223840#Comment_120223840

Without kids it's quite easy to jump on the L (the train) and head down to China Town which is around Mile 20, suppose it depends on how old the kids are.

MiketheMechanic · 23-03-2023 01:10PM

200 days to go to the 2023 Chicago Marathon yesterday - according to my calendar :-)

MtM

brennarr · 15-06-2023 03:11PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119991992#Comment_119991992

Hi all, just booked my flights, now looking for accommodation. The one above is sold out unfortunately.

Looking forward to seeing Chicago but I’ve been there before so I’m sure where is a good location in terms to ease of access to the start/ finish line.

I couldn’t arrive any earlier than Friday evening so I hope I can escape any jet lag before the race.

py · 15-06-2023 08:13PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120718554#Comment_120718554

I've booked an Airbnb and will get taxi/train into the start line on the day.

CuriousCucumber · 28-06-2023 10:22AM

Have serious fomo now.

Loved this race last year, but couldn't justify doing it 2 years in a row. Definitely considering it again in 2024

splashthecash · 28-06-2023 10:29AM

Myself and my wife are heading to this in October - we've done a few other majors but I always love going to to states for marathons. Started my proper marathon plan on Monday although I've been keeping a good level of fitness since February

We are staying quite close to the park and flying over with Aerlingus - ending up staying 4/5 days I think

brennarr · 01-07-2023 03:00PM

Thanks for all your replies. I managed to get an apartment at North Wells st. Looking at google maps it is 10 mins to the start line in a car or 20 minutes using public transport so seems well positioned. The apartment seems to on the route too.

Starting the marathon specific training next week - looking forward to getting started.

py · 08-07-2023 06:51PM

Have many registered for the 5K the day before? For anyone who's done it before, worth it? I'm planning on doing a 30 min or so shake out run the day before so just need to decide if I'm going to do it, the kofuzi shake out run or go solo.

Unknownability · 09-07-2023 09:05AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120822974#Comment_120822974

I did the 5k and really enjoyed it, gave me an indication of how your watch would react during the race.

That's something to note your watch will be absolutely useless for the first 5k at least.

I'd wanted to do Kofuzi's run but it clashed with it, I'd also add the tracksmith shake out which was later in the day.

CuriousCucumber · 09-07-2023 09:18AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120822974#Comment_120822974

I had considered it, but ended up going out and a doing a jog myself instead.

I was basically down near that start line around 7am, and saw the massive crowd for the 5km, but went and ran along the river instead.

If I was going ahead, I'd just do that again. The river walk is beautiful, and lots of joggers out at the time of the day.

I had signed up for the kofuzi shake out run as well, but my flight had been delayed the day before, so had to get my race number at the expo on the Saturday morning, and the two things clashed.

sideswipe · 15-07-2023 03:13PM

Looking for an entry for this if anyone has to duck out. Have one myself but am looking to arrange it for a running buddy who’s had a really tough couple of years dealing with family illness.

Anyone know of any way to pick one up officially through charity places etc at this stage?

py · 15-07-2023 09:26PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120854916#Comment_120854916

https://events.hakuapp.com/events/fe297f0a12b6e2602784/charity_partners

Check that page for charity entries.

Chicago Marathon - Oct 8th 2023

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