Synopsis: With Judy doing the Full Marathon on Sunday, Harold signed up for the 5K Fun Run on Saturday to enjoy the experience, and of course, get the required distance for the 2023 coveted RunK2J Award! Lots of fun with great vibe pre-race, and during the actual event with 9200 participants released in numerous waves. Checkout 3 minute YouTube video RunK2J at Chicago weekend for more fun, and subscribe!
Event Name: Abbot Chicago 5K
Location: Chicago, Illinois, USA
Date: Saturday, October 7th.
Briefly describe the overall venue & course:
Race kit pickup at the impressive Expo, along with the Marathon, so over a hundred vendors and other SWAG available. The run starts Saturday at 7:30am, starting at the Millennium Park start area, along Chicago River, and through scenic parts of downtown core towered with impressive skyscrapers. Forget relying on your Garmin, as the concrete jungle will wreak havoc with any tracking – I logged 5.97km on the 5K run! Lots of snacks available at the finish. Trademark Touque for all 5K participants seen though Chicago all weekend.
My Race Experience:
With 9200 runners starting, we needed to be in the high security part of Millennial Park for 6:30AM, where I said goodbye to Judy, and I kept my final disposable layer on, as there is no bag check for the 5K. It was still a 1KM walk though the park, past security, to find the starting area, and by the corral. Plenty of facilities available, as this would be the Marathon start tomorrow, though over half of the washrooms were locked shut for that – which created some distress for some participants.
Getting into the corral, you could see the vast number of people from around the world – with may folks supporting runners the next day, or even participating in the Marathon tomorrow as well! The blue 5K Chicago toque was very popular headwear. There were a few costumes, and numerous race shirts from around the world, with participants from over 50 countries in this event. Yvonne was somewhere in the sea of runners, though was not able to find her anywhere!
Once the gun went off, each wave moved forward. . . with 10 minute gaps for the corrals. This helped spread out the runners, and not overwhelm the aid stations or finish line. When my turn came, I tossed off the final layer, and started to walk over the timing mats, activate my Garmin, and head off through the park.
We quickly turned into the downtown core, and along the scenic Chicago River. It was an out-and-back run along beside the river, running through the downtown core with impressive concrete buildings everywhere. The skyline was great to view, though created havoc with my Garmin and tracklog. Saw a chilly Judy and Mike cheering at underpass, and I continued on enjoying the experience. Running with shorts and RunK2J shirt was fine for me. We had a 2 lane roadway running out, and there was a timing mat at the turnaround point. Looking at my watch, the pace was all over the place due to the buildings around us, with only my watch being accurate for timing. Running back with 2 lane roadway taking us back to the finisher area, got to finish line, festooned with flags.
I picked up a fine finisher medal, and there was a disproportionate amount of post-run snacks available: gummy bear packages, tubes of gummies, bagels, apples, bananas, water, and electrolyte drinks. Glancing at my watch, the logfile showed the GPS struggling to track the route – showing 5.97km run on the 5K course, bouncing around wildly! Judy, Mike & Yvonne were there at the finish area, and we all strolled back to a their nearby warm hotel to change, and then head out to enjoy the rest of the day. The main event for everyone was tomorrow!
Would you do this event again?
For sure, it was a fantastic event venue, and great to be part of the larger Abbot Series Marathon the next day.
Would you recommend this event?
Yep, if you are in town supporting a marathon participant, defiantly consider registering for the 5K that is held the day before, using the same expo and starting area.
Closing thoughts. Any hints for others planning to do this race? Where to stay? Things to bring? What to wear? We stayed at a cost effective place at the end of the Blue Line near the airport in a Studio Apartment type hotel. Was cool and ideal weather to run, so short and RunK2J shirt was fine! Defiantly bring a toss away layer, as our morning had a +7C start.
Other Venue Info: You get to see some iconic Chicago sights, but no race day bag check is available.
Overall Venue Rating: 5 – Awesome.
Rate the course: 5 – Awesome, lots of fun re-using the Marathon expo and starting area…. making the 5K feel like the full marathon experience!
Please rate the aid stations: 5 – There was a single water station on the course, with re-usable cups. Finish line had tons of snacks: water, gummy bears, apples, oranges, and electrolyte drink.
How was the weather?
Ideal running weather: sunny and cool. Bring warm layer, as we needed to wait over an hour before getting underway. Spectators (Judy and Mike) were chilly, wearing down jackets and hats to try to stay warm!
Run K2J 