Chicago Marathon Review: Before the Race

1. Expo: we stayed downtown, so we were close to the shuttles taking runners to the expo.  They were free and efficient.  We didn’t have to wait more than 5 minutes getting there or coming back.  It was simple to find the shuttle to make our way back to the hotel.

2. Packet pickup: well, this would have been painless, except the computers crashed right when I got to the counter to pick up my bib.  After about 5 minutes, the problem was fixed.  No biggie!

3. The expo experience: CROWDED!!! We got there at 10 am on Friday, thinking it would be less crowded. WRONG!  We didn’t stay long.  I don’t do well in crowds and it was near impossible to get a good view of any of the merchandise.  By the time we left, the line to check out with Nike spanned the length of the expo room.  If I really want Nike merch, I’ll buy it online or at the Nike store downtown.

4. Getting to the race: trains were running slow.  I thought the city would have more trains running into downtown.  We had to let one train pass because it was too crowded.  By the time the second train came around (10 minutes later), we were out of cushion minutes and had to shove our way on the train.  It was no fun!

5. Getting to the corral: this wasn’t too bad.  We waited for about 7 minutes to get past the security checkpoint.  Once in, I waited in line for the bathroom (another 15 minutes) then it was on to the corral.  Beginning to end, this process took about 30 minutes.

Check out Part 2 for my race recap!