Chicago Marathon weekend

This guide is for two groups: people running the Bank of America Chicago Marathon on Sunday, October 11, 2026, and the friends and family trying to see them more than once. It covers how entry works for next year, what the course looks like neighborhood by neighborhood, where to stand, how to move around a city with its downtown streets closed, and the other big races on the Chicago calendar.

The race starts and finishes in Grant Park and loops through 29 neighborhoods. The course is flat, the time limit is 6 hours and 30 minutes (a 15-minute mile), and a spectator with a CTA pass can see a runner several times.

Registration and the lottery

The 2027 race is Sunday, October 10, 2027, and the application for the non-guaranteed drawing opens Thursday, October 8, 2026, at 8 a.m. Central and closes Thursday, October 29, at 2 p.m. Results go out by email on Tuesday, December 8. Entry is $250 for U.S. residents and $260 for non-U.S. residents.

The drawing is a lottery, so plenty of runners take a guaranteed route instead. Those include time qualifiers, legacy finishers with five or more finishes in the last 10 years, charity entrants, tour operator packages and people who complete the Chicago Distance Series. Charity entries cost $325 for U.S. residents. Guaranteed entrants have to pay by November 10; drawing winners have until December 15.

Packet pickup

Every 2026 runner picks up a packet at the Abbott Health & Fitness Expo at McCormick Place, North Building, Hall B1, 2301 S. Martin Luther King Drive. Hours are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Thursday, October 8, and 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Friday and Saturday. The expo is free and open to the public, and everyone goes through security, so leave the big bag at the hotel. The Green Line’s Cermak-McCormick Place stop is the closest L station. McCormick Place Lots A and C cost $13 with the marathon’s QR validation instead of the regular $27.

For shoes, gels or a last-minute sock swap, Fleet Feet Old Town at 1706 N. Wells St. is the local franchise’s flagship, a block north of where the course runs down Wells. The store does in-store fittings and hosts the free Fleet Feet Running Club on Monday and Thursday nights. Take the Brown Line to Sedgwick; street parking on Wells and North Avenue is metered.

The course by neighborhood

Runners start on Columbus Drive, head north across the river and loop through River North and the Loop for the first three miles.

Miles 4 to 12: the North Side

The course goes up LaSalle Drive through Old Town, then along Stockton and Cannon drives through Lincoln Park, past the zoo. Runners take Inner Lake Shore Drive and Sheridan Road north, turn around in Wrigleyville near mile 8, and come back south on Broadway through Northalsted and Lakeview East. Then it is Clark Street past Diversey and Fullerton (mile 10), Sedgwick Street down to North Avenue and south on Wells Street through Old Town around mile 12.

Miles 13 to 20: the West Side

After crossing back downtown, the course passes the Bank of America Tower on Wacker near the halfway mark and heads west on Adams Street through the West Loop out to Damen Avenue, then back east on Jackson Boulevard. Runners turn south on Halsted through Greektown, cross the Eisenhower, and head west on Taylor Street in Little Italy at mile 18. Loomis Street takes them south to 18th Street and into Pilsen, where they run east on 18th before turning onto Halsted around mile 20.

Miles 21 to 26.2: the South Side and the finish

The course cuts across Cermak Road into Chinatown at mile 21, goes south on Wentworth Avenue, and swings east toward Michigan Avenue. The southern turnaround is at 35th Street in Bronzeville, between miles 23 and 24. From there it is a long, straight shot north on Michigan Avenue past McCormick Place. The one real climb is the short rise at Roosevelt Road just past mile 26. The finish is back on Columbus Drive.

Best spectating spots

Pick three spots on or near the same L line and download the official Chicago Marathon app to track your runner.

Downtown and River North

Miles 2, 3 and 13 are all within a few blocks of each other, so you can see a runner early and again at the half without moving much. The race puts a Bank of America Cheer Zone at mile 13 on North Wacker. Doughnut Vault at 401 N. Franklin St. opens at 7:30 a.m. daily, which lines up well with the early waves. The shop is a walk-up counter that sells out, so go early.

Lakeview and Lincoln Park

Broadway between Belmont and Diversey is on the course near mile 9. The Belmont Red, Brown and Purple Line stop is a few blocks west. Flub A Dub Chub’s at 3021 N. Broadway is right on the course and opens at 11 a.m., so the hot dogs are for the back-of-the-pack crowd. A mile south on Clark Street, The Wieners Circle at 2622 N. Clark St. also opens at 11 a.m. Sundays and is on the stretch near mile 10.

In Old Town, the corner of North Avenue and Wells is good because runners pass close to mile 12. The Old Town Ale House at 219 W. North Ave. is a cash-only dive bar that has been there since 1958; the bar does not open until 3 p.m., so plan it as your post-race stop rather than a cheering base.

West Loop, Greektown and Little Italy

The race’s Charity Block Party is at mile 15, at Adams and Loomis streets. Closer in, Lou Mitchell’s at 565 W. Jackson Blvd. opens at 7 a.m. on weekends and is a block from the course, a good place to fuel up between mile 14 and mile 17. Greek Islands at 200 S. Halsted St. opens at 11 a.m. Sundays and sits a block north of where runners turn onto Halsted near mile 17. The UIC-Halsted Blue Line stop is right on the course here.

On Taylor Street, Al’s #1 Italian Beef at 1079 W. Taylor St. is on the mile 18 stretch, but the Little Italy shop is closed on Sundays. Go Saturday if you want a pre-race beef.

Pilsen and Chinatown

Miles 19 to 21 are where runners start to hurt, so a cheer here counts. Skylark at 2149 S. Halsted St. opens at 11 a.m. on Sundays with the kitchen running, and the bar is right where the course leaves Pilsen for Cermak. The tots are the order. The 18th Street Pink Line stop is a few blocks west of the course.

In Chinatown, the Cermak-Chinatown Red Line stop puts you near mile 21. Qing Xiang Yuan Dumplings at 2002 S. Wentworth Ave. is on the course and opens at 11:30 a.m. daily, which works for anyone waiting on a later-wave runner.

Bronzeville and the finish

The 35th-Bronzeville-IIT Green Line stop is close to the 35th Street turnaround. For the finish, the race has a Bank of America Cheer Zone at mile 26, at Michigan Avenue and Roosevelt Road. Spectators can enter Grant Park at 9:30 a.m., and the post-race party opens at 10:30 a.m. Agree on a meeting spot before the race.

Getting around on race day

Do not drive if you can avoid it. Streets along the course close starting at 6 a.m. and reopen as the last runners pass, mostly by 4 p.m. No-parking zones on the course are enforced starting at 1 a.m. Sunday, and towed cars are handled through 312-744-4444. DuSable Lake Shore Drive stays open in both directions, as do the Kennedy, Dan Ryan, Eisenhower and Stevenson, though the Kennedy’s Adams Street exit ramp is closed.

For runners, Grant Park opens at 5:30 a.m. Wheelchair and handcycle starts go off at 7:20 to 7:23 a.m. Wave 1 starts at 7:35 a.m. (corrals close at 7:20 a.m.), Wave 2 at 8 a.m. (corrals close at 7:45 a.m.), and Wave 3 at 8:35 a.m. (corrals close at 8:10 a.m.).

• CTA: the L is the best way to hop between spots. The Red Line runs from the North Side to Roosevelt and Cermak-Chinatown; the Blue, Pink, Green and Brown lines each touch the course.
• Metra: a $7 Saturday or Sunday Day Pass or a $10 Weekend Pass covers unlimited rides.
• Divvy: the race runs a bike valet at Michigan Avenue and Jackson Boulevard from 4 a.m. Bikes must be picked up by 4 p.m.
• Garages: the four Millennium Garages under Grant Park take the code MARATHON26 for 10% off daily and multi-day parking.
• Rideshare: drop-offs are west of Michigan Avenue and south of Ida B. Wells Drive.

After the race, Eleven City Diner at Wabash and 11th Street is a short walk from the finish and opens at 8:30 a.m. on weekends. For a beer, Kasey’s Tavern at 701 S. Dearborn St. in Printers Row opens at 11 a.m. and has more than 130 beers.

Other Chicago races

The same organizers run two other races that, with the marathon, make up the Chicago Distance Series. Finish all three and you get a series medal plus guaranteed entry into the next year’s marathon.

• Shamrock Shuffle: an 8K, plus a 2-mile walk and a mile race. The 2027 race is March 21, 2027, and registration is open.
• Chicago 13.1: a half marathon on the West Side’s parks and boulevards. The 2027 race is June 6, 2027.

Outside the series, the Chicago Half Marathon and 5K started and finished in Jackson Park on September 27, 2026, with a stretch on Lake Shore Drive. The Turkey Trot Chicago runs a 5K and 8K along the lakefront on Thanksgiving, November 26, 2026, and benefits the Greater Chicago Food Depository.

Good to know

• Checked September 28, 2026. Start times, closures and cheer zones come from the race’s 2026 pages and maps, which say the course is subject to change.
• The CTA’s marathon page had not been updated for 2026 as of this check. Look for service changes and reroutes race week.
• Mid-October weather in Chicago can swing from cold to warm. Spectators standing still for hours need more layers than runners.

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