I have never done an indoor race before, so that was something new and I'm all about expanding your…read moreexperiences. It was definitely better to run in controlled conditions than have to worry abour rain, sleet or snow in an unpredictable February (even though it ended up being 45 degrees and sunny). They did a really good job organizing everything. I found Check-In relatively easily and was directed to Gear Check. The lines moved quickly and I was at the Start Pens (12min+ I'm ashamed to admit). They let each Pen approach the Starting Line every two minutes and sounded the horn. It definitely helped keep people from stampeding and made the Course less congested. I was a big fan of the victory bananas and Smart Water. Can't say that I liked the Powerade (I'm a Vitamin Water Zero girl). I also didn't like the Gear Check Volunteer snapping at my friend's friend to "cover up [her] number!" when she asked her number (clearly printed on our bibs) and was told she already had her bag. Overall, I think it was run pretty well and will get better with a few improvements. It was their first year. I might do it next year if they bring it back, but I personally didn't like how it felt like a maze with all the winding between the North and South Buildings. I hated that you could see almost the entire Course. That's mostly because I kept seeing how much was left to run and all I could think was, "I'm glad a cardiovascular organization is running this because I might have a heart attack."

Not particularly well organized event (wasn't exactly easy to figure out where you needed to go for…read morethe race in McCormick when you were there). Course has many turns (as you would anticipate in an indoor race), and when running with the large group of entrants, log jams occurred at many of the turns. Nice to get out of the house in the winter and do something physical, but I would probably look for something else besides this event to do. Note: Writing my review for 2014 event.

I wanted to share how much I enjoy the Carrera de Los Muertos 5K each year -- it's such a…read morebeautiful, culturally rich event that I truly look forward to. The atmosphere, community spirit, and celebration of tradition make it a standout race. That said, I do want to provide a bit of feedback about the packet pickup process. This year it took nearly two hours and felt very unorganized. When I received our team's packets, all the shirts were placed together in a box without the blue Dominican bags that were supposed to be included. In addition, there were no pins included with the 16 packets. Very disappointing experience with a 5k of this stature. It might help to offer an online option for group or team packet pickup, allowing one person to collect materials for multiple participants in an organized way. This would really streamline the process and make race weekend even smoother for everyone involved.

Every year the dead arise. Well sort of, with the Mexican Day of the dead this 5k run is made to…read morehonor those who have left us and it seems that every year the crowd gets bigger and bigger. For early birds who register for the race, you can put a creative name or tag on your flag. But this who wait too long will have to settle for their real name. The goo thing with this race is that with your paid registration you get a wonderful shirt with the Dia de los muertos logo and a few other goodies. Don't get It Twisted, this is NOT Halloween, so come in your best made up day of the dead look. I am sure you will be creative, but just in case, there are those who do face paintings for a small fee of course (come on make up is not cheap). So google Carrera de los muertos and you will see the wonderful photos of this years event. And while you're there you will be able to purchase items pertaining to the 5k and much more. The art is wonderful and the atmosphere is amazing. See ya next year for this wonderful event and of course, don't forget to check in.

This was a fun run! I'd never heard of it before but I'd like to participate again next year. It's…read morefor a great cause and they ran it really well. The course is pretty straightforward but the terrain varies. Some of it's on paved roads and some of it's on part of the IL Prairie Path, which is mainly packed gravel. Overall, the streets were in good condition but there's one stretch where you need to watch for potholes and an uneven surface. No chip timing but they did keep track of people coming in from the start time, so it was relatively accurate. They also had people working a number of intersections to allow for our safe crossing. The after-party was one of the better ones. They had a few vendors giving out free food samples and a build-your-own burger and hotdog station with people grilling up the meats and meat-free items on the spot. I also collected some information about health, wellness and fitness businesses in the area. Special thanks to Yelp for sponsoring. I won a free entry and the regular price isn't bad!

One of the Abbott Marathon Majors which I ran as part of attaining my 6 Star achievement the…read moreChicago Marathon was a fun run for 26.2 miles. The course of very flat, fast, and getting PR's on this route are very attainable. The marathon expo is large and has everything there. If staying in the downtown area the start line is east to get to. You're basically running through all the neighborhoods. The year I ran it was sunny and cool, and even though there were many spectators cheering us on I felt on many parts of the course were sparse and a bit quiet. Still, it's a fun marathon and a great day. Plus, you get an ice cold real beer at the end! Beer and a medal is a win! It's a terrific race course to attempt if you're a first time marathoner since there are few hills and it's considered one of the easier ones. 50,000 runners on average and it was easy to get in through the lottery at the time. Plus, there are many pop up events and marathon related things to attend around town.

This event has a spectator was very well ran. How was mainly upset they closed areas that had…read moreaccess to parking garages but for a large scale event I will say that the organizers did great and they have this event to a T year after year. Everyone here was happy,supportive and motivational to all of the runners involved! If you are coming here as a spectator I highly recommend learning where the public restrooms are at because this city lacks public restrooms and there are about 100,000 people watching this event on top of the 52,000 people that run this event every year! My thing that I will learn for next year is that I will take the METRA instead of driving. Driving to the city wasn't even that bad it was actually very easy because it was Sunday but it's navigating through all the people. Please download the app too that allows you to track your Runner or runners. The one thing that bothered me a lot was seeing a good variety of spectators run on the path when runners are in the middle of the race. People need to be a bit respectful. Thankfully nothing interfered with the race astronomically. Overall, i wouldn't mind coming back next year! I just wouldn't bring lawn chairs but I will stack up on drinks and snacks prior.

This is an annual event run in Elmhurst and it was it's 30th year this year. This year…read moreapproximately 8600 folks ran or walked the annual 5K through the streets of downtown Elmhurst and surrounding neighborhood on Thanksgiving day. Sign up online and pick up at the Knights of Columbus was a breeze. This is a non-chip timed event, but they do have clocks at the start, midway and finish so you can approximate your run/walk time if you don't have a timer on yourself. I was really surprised with the turn out of this event. Not just the runners, but spectators and business owners coming out and cheering the runners on. I felt like I was on a major run with people shouting encouragement and holding up funny/encouraging signs. The BEST was the group of folks in the neighborhood dressed like the Duck Dynasty family tooting their duck call whistles and cheering us along. WOW. We were fortunate to have Jim Cornelison (from CHI Blackhawks fame) sing the National Anthem prior to the start of the race. Also some WWII planes (replicas or real, I don't know) flew overhead the same time. SO VERY COOL. Elmhurst is a great community and I loved the fact that so many people come out for this. The route is fairly flat except for the hill under the viaduct/train tracks that you have to run up. They did change the route this year so most of it ran through the downtown area which I liked. They do offer shuttle buses that will pick up/drop off at certain locations. But I decided to drive and found parking easily in the blocks close to the start/finish. The website doesn't say this, but I guess it is pet and running stroller friendly. Although some of those poor dogs seemed to just want to lie down in the street and not run with their human. Awwww, well, it was pretty darn cold this Thanksgiving.

The Dan Gibbons Turkey Trot has been an annual event in Elmhurst, Illinois for over 37 years. It's…read morea fantastic fun run/walk for the whole family on Thanksgiving Day with proceeds going towards feeding the hungry in DuPage County. Our family has participated since the event's inception and as our family grows, we continue to keep the event as part of our Thanksgiving Day tradition.

I was on of the lucky people who was able to register for the 2013 Chicago Marathon despite the…read morecomplete disaster that was active.com that day. With 3 half marathons under my belt (all that I trained for on my own with my husband), I decided that the extra 13.1 miles warranted seeking professional training. I'm so incredibly grateful that I chose FRTR as my training group! We meet every Saturday morning at 7, sometimes 6:30 in order to beat the heat. Water and gatorade coolers are set up approximately every 2.5-3 miles and at the turn around they also have Gu's/Shot Blocks/etc and cold towels set up. We typically start at the Fabyan Windmill and run along the Fox River (more shade on west side). Pacing groups are informal. Some pace leaders carry first aid kids, some don't. The best is from time to time, they'll have massage therapists waiting for us after our 14 or 18 mile runs....heaven! The coaches are extremely friendly, motivational, and informative! If I survive my first marathon in October, I'll definitely be signing up again with FRTR. (If you end up joining the FRTR club, they offer generous scholarships for your college students!)

Wow, this race was hard! I had done the "regular" Warrior Dash in Channahon IL. It's muddy, crazy…read moreand achievable. While the obstacles were challenging, I felt I was able to do them. This version, held in the city without mud, was more of an athletic challenge. The obstacles required more physical strength, some of which I had to skip because they were so hard. If you are a serious athlete looking for a challenge, this race is for you! The only complaint is that the first 2 miles or so, there were no obstacles so the race was a bit boring. This race goes south and I'm thinking there are some rules about building anything along the very beautiful lakefront. So except for that boring stretch, the rest was awesome! Favorite part? Going up and down the stadium stairs in Solider Field. That was likely the most challenging obstacle, near the end, because everyone was so beat! Even the "serious athletes" were walking the stairs at that point. The after party was a lot of fun too. We all just sat around on the grass and laughed at how crazy it was! A good time -make sure you train first! I was a bit lazy beforehand I'm pretty sore two days later!

This was me and The Heiress Apparent (La J) first time at this event. We are both lovers of Mac…read moreand Cheese, so of course when we heard about this event, we were in. Tickets were $65 for General Admission and and $105 for VIP. Both tickets got you all you can eat samples and five drink tickets. We got the VIP tickets because there was priority check in, free tee shirts and a VIP section we could sit in so we could be comfortable eating our mac and cheese. The VIP section was good, plenty of seats. This was our first time at the fest, so we have no comparison in terms of organization. But I would say that the event was very well organized. There were a good number of vendors representing different types of mac and cheese, very creative. The samples were a good size for getting a flavor of eat one. It was a brilliant idea to have the samples already out on the table ready to pick up. The only vendor that had a line was Public House (Chef Jeremy Tannehill) for the Chicken, Mac, & Waffles. It eventually settled down and we go to sample it...waffle cone, mac/cheese and a chicken meatball in hot sauce. It was good. Millie's Supper Club had a a great Smoked Gouda Mac & Cheese. Texican (Chef Kim Dalton) Texas Chili Mac, Warren's Ale House (Chef Kevin Hay) Ghost Pepper Mac with Smoked BBQ Brisket (wasn't that hot and that was good), and ConeCepts (Chef Turn Cummings) Beer Braised Brisket Mac & Cheese were all good. Another favorite for me was Carmine's. They came up with a Mac and Cheese slider and it was so good. Other favorites were Carnivale's (Chef Rodolfo Cuadios) Mac & Cheese Cake Pops. I could not wrap my mind around a mac and cheese dessert, but it was like eating cheese cake. That was my personal favorite of all the vendors. La J enjoyed Mahoney's Pub & Grille's (Chef Alex Gomez) Strawberry Mac & Cheesecake and Kitty O'Sheas at the Hilton Chicago's (Chef Mario Garcia & Chef Erica McGhee) something like an apple crumble. Again, not thinking of mac and cheese as a dessert, but both worked. The five drink tickets were good and I ended up getting more from some nice people. Not sure what all was there for adult beverages as I hit the table serving wine. Pretty decent whites and they have a sparkling, so I was in heaven. The pours were very generous. We didn't get to hit all of the restaurants as we got so full! We had a plan of attack for hitting all of the vendors, but made the mistake of repeating samples that we liked. All and all, it was a good time and I look forward to doing this next year.

Tubular elbow pasta has been one of America's favorite comfort foods ever since Yankee Doodle stuck…read morea feather in his cap. This annual one-day indoor festival provides a venue for talented local chefs to flex their creative muscles and compete for the Golden Noodle Award, and for foodies to sample something potentially more awesome than the familiar Kraft product. Tickets are pricey but the event donates a portion of the proceeds to a worthy charity. This was the first time the Missus and I attended the Fest (we were invited as VIP lunch guests). Many of the offerings we tasted were truly a quantum leap above the comparatively bland grocery aisle version. Some had unusual twists. For example, mac & cheese cake pops (Carnivale), whose flavor is best described as cheddar cheesecake. My personal fave was the sweet-and-savory concoction of Kitty O'Shea's (a past award recipient); it was redolent of caramelized onions. Several of the booths were elaborately decorated. To wash down the high-carb repast, participants could choose from an array of 5 oz. pours of beers, wines, and hard ciders. A deejay spun contemporary songs. The feeding frenzy concluded with the announcement of the winner and runners-up (by popular vote) for the Golden Noodle Award, a trophy that looks like a drainpipe on a pedestal. What a hoot! We're longtime fans of food festivals, and this exceptionally well-run event was among the best we've attended.