This was a pretty cool race. I have to give them credit -it was super well-organized. We got there…read moreabout an hour early to park in the lot with a shuttle bus that takes you to the start. My parents came to watch and I didn't want them to have to walk very far and this was an excellent service. The other lot option required you to have to walk about a mile, which is too far from them. The only bummer -and this is probably for safety reasons -was that I thought the planes were going to be taking off and landing closer to us. You know how you drive on I-90 or Mannheim Road and the planes are literally 10 feet over your head? Yeah -call me foolish, but I thought that was going to happen as we ran. I just assumed that if they got that close to the major streets, they would just be taking off and landing close to the route. So, you will not be experiencing that -but as far as a unique experience -this was still a cool race. There is a big plane that you can pose next to for pictures and just overall an interesting event because you are accessing areas of the airport property that most people will never see. You are literally running on a runway they close for the event. The shirt was cotton -would like to see a "tech-T" in future years, as they tend to hold up better after multiple washings. After all, it is going to be a fun shirt to wear and a great conversation starter regarding our experience!

This was a fun half marathon. It was super cold in 2014...but fun. Lots of random runners before…read morethe race talking to each other, being super friendly just so to keep your mind off the very cold run that is going to happen. It's mostly trails for this half marathon and you see some duplicates. Hills weren't really an issue. But, they could have done better in terms of a quality control check and had some of the road/trails salted to get rid of the ice patches. Lot's of random icy spots along the course that were very slippery and could have hurt some runners. Not sure if there were any accidents, but at least the runners are very considerate to each other as they warn you ahead of time. At post race, they gave out the finisher medal and had plenty of goodies as well. They gave out a pretty nice long sleeve fleece sweater to all runners. I will definitely be wearing that during my winter runs here in Illinois. I wouldn't mind doing this again. Friendly people, great perks, pretty cheap...hopefully they will salt the roads next time. Note to self 2014: 1:48:53

Nice race to end the Chicago running season. Ran the half at the end of the year. Pretty flat…read morecourse (with the exception of a couple of bridges). You run through a park, so the scenery is not bad, but also fairly undifferentiated throughout. Limited crowd participation except at the end.

I wanted to love this race, I really did. It's a local race that supports our running community in…read morea place I love to run with perfect weather. The price was reasonable, the medal was adorable, and I love that they went with shorts instead of another shirt that I clearly don't need. However. There isn't enough parking at the start. And there are ZERO bathrooms on the course. I also didn't think there were enough water stations for a half marathon. This race also lacked both pacers and course clocks, so heaven help you if you didn't have your own timing device. The post-race party was amply stocked for such a small race, featuring lots of food and sponsor giveaways. There was also an opportunity to get a photo with the Easter bunny and an egg hunt for kids and adults. It's a cute run for the family, but I was going for a new personal best and that just didn't happen here because of a variety of things that the race could improve upon. Bathrooms are important!

What a fun 5k, this year at Busse Woods near the grove at Golf Road near the frontage road entrance…read moreto 53. No beer on the course this year, but a fun beer tasting and option to purchase additional beer drinking coins. The race shirts are always a great tech shirt with fun, festive logo and I love that it is also a dog friendly race. It is an untimed race, but mostly flat course and Toasty Cheese food truck afterwards is a treat. I appreciate the fun race which allows for supporting a few charities. The beer and seltzers offered post-race were fabulous. This is a fun event to do with a group of friends or family. Last time I did this it was so cold the beers were slushies! Now if we could just have warmer weather for this race...

As explained well in advance, this is not a race for people trying to set a PR (Personal Record)…read more Well, unless you're trying to do your slowest 5K ever. In fact, it tied for my slowest 5K that didn't include an obstacle course since huffing and puffing my way through the Vernon Hills Run From the Cops 5K in 2009 when I first started running. And by running, I mean slowly jiggling in a forward moving motion for 45 minutes. I was very appreciative that they offered a number of options for packet pick-up throughout the week. Unfortunately, a typo made it so I couldn't get my race stuffs when I originally wanted to. They had listed Church Street as a location for Wednesday and provided the correct address. Finch's Beer Co. was listed as the place for Thursday and they put Church Street's address and later corrected it, but it was too late by the time I realized it so it didn't do me any good. Thus, I had to wait until Friday to go out of my way up to RAM in Schaumburg. Still, this was a hell of a lot more convenient than same day packet pick-up since I arrived about 15 minutes before the run was scheduled to start. I got my 21+ wristband quickly and waited. The Beer Run was supposed to start at 11:00am but I don't think they really got going until 6 minutes later and I got to the Start Line when it was already about 10 minutes into timing. I finished 45 minutes later after a leisurely jog and walk with beer stops at the Start and then every 1K after that. You collected your finisher's medal at the Finish Line and were able to turn in a beer ticket off of your bib for a beer of your choice from a number of breweries who sponsored the event and had samples at the different 1K stops. They sold additional beer tickets at the after-party and you had the option to purchase 5 tickets for $20 at the packet pick-ups scheduled throughout the week. I had bought mine in advance and wound up not using them all since I didn't want to overdo it and wasn't crazy about all the beer. Though you won't get the discount at the event, it might be worth it to wait and see which beers you like before deciding how many beer tickets to buy. This event was a lot of fun. People were really into dressing the part and we created a sea of green along the streets of Arlington Heights. If they return, I may do it again. I'm a bit more into the chip timed races, but this was good for setting the pace for the season to see how out of shape I am again. Also, beer.

The most unorganized race ever. Customer service is horrible. They take your money and vanish. Just…read morecheck their FB page. Runners asking questions and no response. For the Chicago race they kept changing the address and finally settled on a forest preserve with NO address. Drove around in circles for more than an hour before finally going home. Again, don't be fooled by their hype. Giving them 1 star is rating them high. Never again!!

(Now Amita - 2016) This was the most chaotic, disorganized race I have ever participated in. I…read moreunderstand completely that the weather cannot be controlled, but to delay the race for two hours for "the safety of the runners", only to hold it in the dark, under the same weather conditions, with absolutely no support for runners along the course was irresponsible and dangerous. When the organizers made the decision to start the race at 7:30 pm, they should have let runners know that lighting conditions would be poor, there would be no mile markers along the course, water stations would be abandoned, roads would be re-opened during the race, there would be no human beings along the course to direct the runners properly on the re-adjusted course, the slower runners would not have a person handing them a medal when they crossed the deflated finish line (in fact, we would have to figure out in the dark & rain which medals should be for the half marathon), there was no one to provide water or post race nourishment - the whole operation was just shut down, abandoning many "non-elite" runners. Seriously, I cannot believe that the race wasn't cancelled if organizers were unprepared to support the slower runners who paid their fees the same as everyone else.