October 11 was the 2026 Bank of America Chicago Marathon. Both my wife and I entered the lottery for a place in the race, she got her place and unfortunately I did not. Nevertheless my goal was to come and support her over the weekend. This would be her 18th marathon and only the second marathon she had run without me so I was excited to plan to support her on the course. I had done similar when she ran the NYC Marathon solo in 2016 so I knew what I was signing up for.

Although she got in and I did not, I promised that she did not have to train for this solo, so we shared a training plan to run all the long runs together. I only missed one long run when I was sick one weekend and she had to run 18 miles on her own. There was one other weekend where I tag teamed with a friend for the 20 miler due to a family commitment where our friend ran 8 miles with her and I was able to join her for the last 6 so she did not have to run alone for too much. I have the Philadelphia Marathon scheduled a few weeks later and this would not be the first time I had done marathons close together so it was great to coordinate.

Once we had made hotel and flight arrangements I realized we would be there for the whole weekend as were flying in on the Friday to visit the expo and I noticed there was the Abbott Chicago 5K on the day before. I asked my wife if she didn’t mind me signing up and she told me to go for it. Done.

We set off early on Friday morning so we would arrive early enough to spend some time at the expo and send some time together exploring Chicago so she could rest up on Saturday before the race. She actually had a work commitment on Saturday so would not have free time the day before the race, so Friday was the day for both of us to hang out and relax before the race weekend.

Once arriving at our hotel we took an Uber to the expo at McCormick Place Convention Center. Upon arrival we made our way in to pick up our bibs for our respective races. They had each participant scan the QR code that we had received from the race and show a form of ID. From this they would tell us which desk we needed to go to to pick up the race bib. The marathon bib pick up was separate from the 5K. There were over 50,000 runners for the marathon and around 10,000 for the 5K. I could not believe how busy the expo was for noon on a Friday, but I guess as one of the world’s major marathons, people are flying in from all over the world for this race so no-one was just dropping by on their lunch hour. As one of the world majors we saw plenty of people wearing race shirts from Boston, New York, London, Tokyo, Berlin, etc.

The marathon bib pickup and 5K bib pickup were in separate areas but clearly signed. I joined my wife to get her bib and race t-shirt and I dashed off to pick up my 5K bib while she started looking through the expo. I got my bib and to my surprise (a pleasant surprise) I received a winter hat instead of a shirt. I have so many race shirts and it’s nice to have a change. Cute hat.

We spent time going up and down the aisles checking out all the booths. There were all the big players there. Nike (the sponsor merchandise vendor), Brooks, Asics, On, Hoka, Altra, etc. So many vendors as well as many charity organizations. Each vendor seem to have their own Chicago-branded gear. It was really busy at the expo and in some booths people were lining up around the aisles to get in and pay for merchandise. My wife found some unique running tops at Asics (my favorite of her purchases) and also a great Chicago quarter zip that was made by one of the local vendors. There were also many food and refreshment vendors which we took samples from.

As we were walking around the expo there were QR codes to register for the lottery for the 2027 race. While my wife was checking out one vendor I took a chance to enter for next year. Based upon this amazing weekend (which you will read more about below) I am really hoping to get in via lottery next year. Everyone at the expo seemed to be so excited for the weekend. Fingers crossed for the draw in December.

We were actually in the expo for a couple of hours as it was so busy. We may have arrived at a busy part of the day, but we heard from some of my wife’s friends that they went to the expo twice, once to pick up their bibs and then back to view the vendors. It may have been even more crowded. We just decided to get it all done so we could have free time around Chicago, plus my wife wanted to hit up the Lululemon store in the city to see if they had any Chicago-branded gear (spoiler alert – they did).

My wife did well at Lululemon. They had some special Chicago Marathon gear and they were giving 25% discount if you showed your race bib. There was not much inventory left when we got there but my wife was able to find something she loved and we left happy. I had a quick stop at the Harry Potter store for a butterbeer and we made our way further up the Magnificent Mile. Near the bridge crossing the river was a Brooks Running pop up store. They had a cute sweater that my wife took a liking too and we made another purchase. She did well.

After taking a couple of hours off our feet in the hotel we made our way over to the Fulton Market area for a really nice dinner at a Greek restaurant. Really good food. We took a short walk around the area to walk off dinner before heading back to the hotel for an early(ish) night. We had been up since 3:30am and we also had to deal with the one hour time difference. I also wanted to get back to set up my gear for the next morning.

On Saturday morning, the race started at 7:30am and we were staying very close to the starting line. My plan was to head out of the hotel around 6:45am and walk to the starting area for the 5K in Grant Park to arrive around 7am. It was funny as I left the hotel to see so many people out for a shake-out run. I am sure there were many marathoners running the 5K as a warm up judging from the crowd, but there were people running everywhere in the area just as it was getting light. Some groups running together.

I made my way from the hotel to the park (you could see the park entrance from the back of the hotel) and joined the other runners walking to the staging area. I was in corral B and with 10,000 people I figured it would be tight to run, so I planned to get there early enough to move towards the front of the corral. It wasn’t too bad and I was able to get a few early pictures before the corral started to fill up. I walked in with someone wearing a Coastal Delaware Marathon shirt. We chatted about that for a while and I wished the runner goof luck for his race the next day.

I was pretty relaxed waiting in the corral. This was not my weekend so I was just happy to be a part of it and looked forward to the experience. Shortly after 7:39am Corral B was off. Chicago is known for being a flat and fast course. One great thing about the course is that the roads are very wide. I did not have much difficulty moving along the course through the crowds as there was a good amount of space and never really got help up. Yes, I weaved a little here and there, which you can totally see from my GPS route, but it was fairly free moving.

I had also heard about the reputation of GPS accuracy amongst the tall buildings in Chicago and my first mile was a good 30 seconds off from what I was showing as my expected pace but I was running a good pace. There was a water station around mile 1.4 and the crowds for the 5K were really great. My pace was good. It felt comfortable and my pace per mile was faster with each mile (8:41, 8:25 and 8:09 per mile). It was a warm morning. We had been warned it may be a warm weekend. The race had notifications for the heat (green/yellow/red) based upon conditions. We started at yellow and it felt every bit of it.

I felt good and ran well and finished in a time of 26:48. Not my fastest 5K but definitely my fastest in a long time. I was very happy.

Once across the finish line we were ushered through the finishing chute by the volunteers as this was such a big crowd. Volunteers gave out water, granola bars, apples and pedialyte sachets before we headed over to get our medals. Once people were beyond the medals everyone seemed to disperse into their own directions. There was no gear check for the 5K so once you had your medal there was nowhere else to go other than wait and meet up for other runners, family and friends or just head home. I chose to head through the park to get some post race pictures before heading back to shower and head out to enjoy the rest of my day. My wife was at a conference so she was already gone from the hotel when I got back so I pretty much had a free day until she was finished for the day and we had a pre-marathon dinner reservation.

I clearly did a lot of walking around the city. My total distance for the day was just over 17 miles and I only ran 3 miles. It was a good day and I really enjoyed my time around the city. It was a beautiful but warm day.

I met my wife after her event and we headed over to a restaurant just off Michigan Avenue that had been recommended to her and we were surrounded by so many runners. The menu was branded with the Chicago Marathon logo so were definitely in the right place.

After dinner we headed back to our hotel and set out everything for the next morning. It was going to be a long day and we had to be up early.

Back in 2016 when I race chased the New York City Marathon I took along Red Fraggle on a camera extension pole so I could raise it in the air above the spectating crowd and my wife would be able to see me. Red Fraggle came out for a repeat trip for the Chicago Marathon. We were ready.

We set our alarms for 5:45am with a goal of leaving the hotel at 6:45am. My wife was in the third wave which would set off around 8:30 and we planned to be at the race staging area around 7:10am to give her time to check her gear and relax before the corrals closed at 8:10am. We walked from the hotel along with all the other runners. It was just getting light when we left and we walked alongside other families and teams as they made their way to their respective starting areas. My wife was assigned to enter through gate 5 which would be where her corral was situated. Only runners could enter there race area so I walked with her to the gate, dropped her off and made my way back to the hotel for a quick shower before heading out for the great race chase.

I had done some research through YouTube videos and using AI tools to plan out how best to see my wife on the course. I had planned to see her 4 times like I did when she ran in New York back in 2016. The first mile went very close to our hotel so that would be easy, from there we made a plan as to where I should be and then using AI to plot my day based upon her expected race pace, the tool showed me arrival times and locations to see her on the course. We finalized the plan the night before so she would know where to look for me on the course. We were set for mile 1, mile 8.5, mile 19 and mile 25.

My wife made her way into her starting area and had a chance to relax before the race. It was a warm morning so the plan was to take it easy and make sure she was hydrating as it may be a challenging day for the runners.

Once I was ready for the day, I headed out of the hotel around 7.45am to make my way to my first planned viewing location. The first wave had already begun at 7:30am and as I walked from the hotel I got a great view of the early corrals starting their day along the first mile.

I got to my first location early. I was tracking my wife and couple of other runners in earlier corrals on the official app. My wife had not yet set off so I was able to soak up the atmosphere and cheer along for the other runners. I saw one of the runners I was also tracking and that was fun and then just after 8:45am the app showed that my wife had crossed the starting line. The day had begun. The app showed where she was on the app and while I anticipated it was not going to be 100% accurate it was pretty good to see her moving along the course.

Once she passed I made my way to the Red Line to make my way up to my next spectating point. As it was close to the first mile, everyone and their families seemed to have the same idea. There was a line down the stairway into the station and the platform was packed with people looking to get to their next viewing points. The first train that came was already jammed with people but luckily there was a train a few minutes behind it and by the time it arrived there was just enough room for me (and Red Fraggle) to squeeze on.

As you can see the train was pretty busy but I followed the crowds as I figured everyone was going pretty much in the same direction in the early stages of the race. Not everyone would be seeing their runners as often as I had planned.

When I arrived at the second planned location, I found a spot in the crowd where I was able to get a good view of the runners. I was still tracking my wife and I could see she had not passed by yet. I was among a crowd who was cheering every runner along. One of them asked me if I was cheering anyone and I said I was cheering my wife. They asked her name so they could cheer her on when she arrived. As she approached she could see my Fraggle way up in the air and came running over as a crowd started cheering her name out aloud. She said later that this was one of her favorite memories from the day. Marathon spectators are a cool bunch. If you’ve never spectated a marathon I encourage you to do so. The runners really appreciate the support and especially if you call out their name.

From mile 8 I had to make my way across town to my next viewing point around mile 19. I know I should not complain as my wife had to run 11 miles to get there and I only had to take public transport, but this was my most challenging part of the day and I had to change lines and was nervous I would not make it. Luckily I figured it out and made my way to the location. I didn’t realize this from the marathon course map, but the station was at Wrigley Field. I made my way to the marathon route and was there about 10 minutes before she arrived and I was able to catch her again. At this point of the day (mile 19) it was really hot and I could see that many of the runners were looking really hot and tired. I was hoping she was doing alright. I need not have worried. She came along the street and looked amazing. She looked like she was having so much fun and I was so happy for her.

Based upon my plan for the day I had a tight turnaround to get from mile 19 to mile 25 as I had to switch lines again, so I quickly walked back to the station and didn’t have a long wait for the train to arrive. Based upon the plan for the day I was headed to a specific station to switch trains but I plugged in the final destination to Apple Maps and it suggested switching at a different station and that would save me around 15 minutes. With that set, I headed to mile 25 for the final viewing spot planned on Michigan Avenue.

My wife later told me that she was not sure she would see me so close to the finish of the race as the crowds were so dense. I had been on the right side of the course for all the other viewings and this time I was on the left side and I was not sure she would spot me but I put the Fraggle on the longest reach I could and was waving it over everyone’s heads. My wife said she could see this from far away and made it over to see me. At mile 25 she told me this was a perfect time to see me as she needed a boost for the final mile. Glad I could make it. Once she had past me I had to race over to the finish area. I was following my wife to the finish on the app and I was walking quickly through back alleyways parallel to Michigan Avenue to avoid the crowds.

Once my wife turned her phone off airplane mode I was able to track her using the ‘Find My’ app on the iPhone and it showed me pretty close to her so we would be able to meet up shortly. We connected by phone and picked a spot to meet up.

Once she arrived I could see how happy she was. She was beaming. I was so proud of her as it was hot and it wasn’t the easiest day and she ran a great race. It was time for the post marathon photo shoot.

My wife was really happy with her day. She told me she slowed down a little in the last couple of miles due to the heat and to bring her heart rate down. She was hydrating as much as she could but advised that the warning flags had changed on the course near the end of the race. She admitted to cramping up a little after the finish line so the key was to rehydrate and rest when we got back to the hotel. She was beaming ear to ear. Should could not stop smiling.

Once we met up again we walked to ‘The Bean’ to get her usual jump shot photo (she is known for doing jump shots everywhere) but she did warn me that this was going to be a one and done effort today and I had better get the photo on the first attempt as she didn’t have another jump in her for now.

After a soak in an epsom salt bath and a hot shower we were ready to head out for some famous Chicago deep dish pizza. I will say one of us earned it more. I’ll let you guess. Although I did record almost 15.5 miles myself that day. Still, she did amazing and I am so happy and proud of her. A great run considering the hot conditions and her pace was consistent through the race. She did awesome. What a great day.

My wife had a work event starting on Monday but had to start working the evening before the event to set up for the next day. She was dressed and out the door at 5pm after finishing the marathon and already on to her next activity. Yes, she gives the ‘Energizer Bunny’ a run for its money.

We stayed in Chicago for a couple of days after. The weather at home was awful because of the hurricane traveling up the east coast. We were fortunate to have such great weather all weekend and early into the week. I was able to get out early on Monday and Tuesday and run along the Chicago waterfront. I was lucky to be tagging along this week but this weekend totally belongs to my amazing wife who just completed her 18th full marathon.

Thank you for reading. I hope next year I can update this with another run in Chicago. We shall see.