This was my second marathon ever. My family and I flew into O’Hare and took the EL to our hotel, which was next to the expo.

Traveling with a toddler in a stroller was difficult- especially when several of the EL stations did not have elevators. Definitely something I would look closely at if you plan on traveling with young ones.

The expo was nice, hotel was great, and they offered a free shuttle to Grant Park. The pace teams were fantastic- one of the reasons why I PR’d that day. They were energetic and made the journey seem like a fun party. I remember hitting the halfway mark and feeling like I was only jogging, even though I was much faster than my first marathon.

The post-race festivities were great- from the Goose Island after party in Grant Park, to the medal engraving at the Nike store, to visiting Goose Island to have my commemorative pint glass laser-etched with my finishing time (and a free beer since I was wearing my medal).

In the end, I would run this marathon again, but once I knew we did not need a stroller to navigate. Then, we would be more comfortable using a ride share service to get from the hotel to the airport to save time.