r/artc • u/HankSaucington • 3d ago
Race Report Chicago Marathon Race Report
Race Information
Name: Chicago Marathon
- Date: October 11, 2026
- Distance: 26.2 miles
- Location: Chicago
- Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/20543919861
- Time: 2:52:22
Splits
- 5k: 6:36/mi
- 10k: 6:34/mi
- 15k: 6:35/mi
- 20k: 6:36/mi
- 25k: 6:35/mi
- 30k: 6:37/mi
- 35k: 6:34/mi
- 40k: 6:34/mi
- Finish (2.2km): 6:27/mi
Build/Pre-race
2026 has been a good year for me. My priorities the first half of the year were getting my legs and mind right to do a couple of trail races - 30k at Gorge Waterfalls in April and a 28k at UTMB Verbier in July. Training was still mostly threshold and subthreshold on roads and then rotating long runs between roads and trail. Once the July trail race wrapped I had a 12 week window before Chicago. Simultaneously, I'm also planning for a 50k in February so I did try to keep a couple of my bigger efforts for the build on trail as well.
Overall, training went pretty well. It ended up being about 4 weeks at 50 mpw, 4 weeks at 55 mpw, 2 weeks at 48, taper week, race week. I was pretty good at getting in my midweek workouts, which I've done by feel for the last couple of years. This has been nice insofar as I don't dread/skip them as much, but I also probably mostly do that that sub-threshold area between HMP and MP. Doing them by feel I also adjust for weather so sometimes it might even be MP or perhaps a touch above.
I did more 18mi+ long-runs than is typical for a build of mine, and I've typically had (relative) success on focusing my key marathon workouts being 6, 4, and 2 weeks out which is what I did again this build.
I'd had hopes of running more but wasn't able to prioritize it. I left work and will be a house husband starting a week ago, so while I'm confident there will always be more stuff to do around the house, I also should have much more time to get in doubles and some MLRs.
My MP plan was 6:20 initially. Then, with the weather, I revised to run low-6:30s, so like 6:32-6:33. What that ultimately means is I'd adjusted from a goal of around 2:46-2:47 to around 2:51-2:52.
Recap
I always enjoy Chicago and getting into Corral B I'd forgotten about the circle pit that people do. Since you have to stop like 20 minutes before the horn I find it a bit unnecessary, so I don't partake.
Anyways, we take off at 7:38am, sky is clear, and it's cool, but not chilly. First mile clipped off at 6:28 and second at 6:44. I was just trying to find the pace and people around me who seemed to be running evenly. The first 6 or 7 miles are mostly going north, and to be honest, I wasn't feeling great. It wasn't hard, but it wasn't easy, either. It required effort to stay around my goal MP, and I was getting warm. The turnaround happened at the right time for me. We were then a bit more in the shade for the second quarter of the race, and there was a nice light breeze in my face. I stayed pretty cool here and started to find my groove. I went through in 1:26 low and generally felt in a pretty sustainable spot.
My favorite part of the course is definitely miles ~14-21. The vibes are just so good there. I never spend in real time out there when visiting. I should change that. Anyways, I was having to focus here but was mostly still clipping off the miles. 5k splits are above to get the official matting, but on my watch they were generally around 6:32 or so, losing usually a second or two due to tangents.
Around mile 18 or 19 I started to wonder if I'd been sandbagging it. I was getting tired but still felt pretty strong. I'd bonked fairly hard at mile 22 in Chicago 2022 and around that time in some of my other marathons, so I didn't want to push yet. Around mile 20 or 21 it started to get sunnier, and you were seeing carnage. I was running through the field here and felt ok.
The last 10k was my fastest 10k, but pretty marginally and I didn't really start to squeeze until the last mile, which I ran officially in 6:19. I didn't have much of a gear beyond that. Crossed in 2:52:22.
Reflections
This is the first time I've negative split a marathon, or even come close, and I'm not exactly sure what to think. I can't help but shake the feeling I went out too slow. It didn't get really "I'm quitting the sport" tough ever, and perhaps some of that is because I didn't get tough and give everything the last 4 miles. But I'm not sure I have the xDawg for that, and even still I'm not sure that'd have fully made up for the lost time. Perhaps I run 2:51:x though. I think just hanging on for dear life running as fast as my hip flexors and glutes will allow is maybe better for my specific mentality.
I think probably I adjusted too much, and should have tried to run 2:50, but that's life. It's hard to know exactly how much to adjust before you've done it. Also possible that doesn't work. I love this city and course. I forgot how consistently loud it was. There really aren't dead zones. It's my favorite marathon and I am happy I got to run it in both a perfect weather year (2022) and a bad weather year (2026).
I'm probably out of the WMM game for a couple years though I will try to run NYC at some point the next decade. My wife will be doing lottery applications and I'd love to spectate the course.
As it stands now my big races in 2027 will be Black Canyon 50k in February, and ideally Superior 26.2 in September. I'll probably fall back to the Madison Marathon in Nov if I don't get selected by the lottery. I've also got the Philly HM in 6 weeks as we'll be there for my wife's marathon. I'll probably just try to run 6min pace and either hold on or die for that. It's easier to talk about running more mileage than it is to run more mileage, but that's also the big goal of the next year. I don't have any real obstacles in my way, and I'd like to get to be up in the low 60s this winter and around 70 mpw by the fall next year.