On 12 October 2025 I took part in the Chicago Marathon. One of the 7 World Marathon Majors, it is one of the three in USA, and often the one in America that gets least attention. Boston Marathon is deep rooted in history and has the prestige of qualification, and New York is the race that everyone praises for the crowds and atmosphere. Simply, Chicago Marathon is, in my opinion, extremely underrated. It is a beautiful city, extremely well organised, and has great consistent crowd support. It also offers a fast course, with the current world record coming from the Chicago Marathon 2023.
This is my 6th Chicago Marathon, and my 174th Marathon (plus) and my 129th time as an official pacer (including 66 marathons). It was my 13th marathon of 2025, and 10th as a pacer this year. It is also my 36th World Marathon Major.
My Chicago experience
This year my Chicago experience was a little delayed. On route to the airport I received an email advising of a 5 hour flight delay. This impacted my original plans of going to the expo on the Friday to leave the Saturday free to rest and enjoy. It is disappointing to miss the start of the trip, but the main thing is I got there, and in time for my first Deep Dish Pizza of the weekend.
I decided to do the 5km on the Saturday morning this year. So I woke up early and walked to the start with Scott, via Dunkin Doughnuts for a coffee. I had no intention of racing the 5km, but its nice to shake off the legs and put in a bit of an effort. The route felt deceptively difficult and it was warm. I ran with my rucksack on my back as I was not going back the hotel before the expo, but it dug into my armpit which was a little unpleasant.
I enjoyed the run, and finished hot and sweaty, in 22:31.
After the 5km we went to Yolk for a nice big breakfast as I do every year. Nothing beats a big breakfast to set up your day.
Then I made my way to the expo. As part of my role as a pacer for Chicago Marathon I do a 3 hour shift. I love being out on the floor talking with runners, offering advice and answering questions. On my way into the expo I picked up my race number, and it is such a quick and efficient process. I also changed my number, because I was asked to change wave from K to H. I did not spend a lot of time looking around the expo as I’ve been here many times before, and I’m not interested in buying more gear or the competitions. I purchased some race nutrition and collected my participants t-shirt. At the pacer section I was given my race kit and was given a nice surprise this year, by receiving a pair of Nike alphafly. I’ve never owned a pair of vaporfly or alphafly, so this was a nice treat.
I finished off the day with an early evening meal, another deep dish pizza. When in Chicago.
Chicago Marathon
I set my alarm nice and early to leave my hotel at 05:00 for our pacer meet. I always like to arrive early and ensure everything is prepared. At Chicago we have a tent for the pacers with our own toilets. The little luxury makes a big difference and helps us to get ready.
We go out in waves, so after catching up with lots of familiar faces, it was time for wave 2. I was pacing with Eric, and we made our way to the back of H. Very quickly we were surrounded by a huge group of runners, all aiming for sub 4. I tried to give a bit of a motivational talk, as I always do. The aim to motivate, calm nerves, offer advice and answering all the usual questions. Afterwards we were all eager to get started, and I already knew it was going to be a great day.
It is well known that the GPS in the first few miles is not great. Our plan was to run nice and steady and hit our targets, getting through to 5km on time. Then I told everyone I wanted to build up to a 30 second cushion by half way, then maintain this to the finish.
There were so many runners that Eric and I split taking one side each. We must have started with 500 runners. By the mile 1 marker my watch was on 1.13. This just shows that it isn’t necessarily about even splits on strava, it is about the reality of the race itself. One year it recorded me getting a 5 minute mile in the first few miles, it is the reality that following GPS alone is not enough.
At 5km we were right on target. Actually recording 1 second slow, which was fine. Moving towards 10km I lost Eric, and I looked back a lot for him, but I couldn’t make him out in the crowds. I got to 10km 2 seconds ahead of target, and I assumed at this point that Eric was not going to catch me. So I decided to pick up the pace just by 5 seconds a mile, to ensure we were in a comfortable place. Water stations were very busy, but they go on for a whole block, so I made sure to encourage runners to not stop at the first tables.
I reached 15km about 16 seconds ahead of target and shortly afterwards Eric was by my side. He hadn’t been far behind and catching me gradually. From this point on we had a lot of fun together encouraging the group, and we worked well as a team. I was so impressed to see so many runners keep up with us the whole race. It was great weather, that got a little warm in the later stages.
We hit half way in 1:59:40 and from this point onwards I told everyone we would maintain that 20 seconds. We ranged each mile between 24 seconds and 16 seconds ahead of schedule. Our pacer group worked as a good team, some pushing ahead, and others encouraging each other.
At about 25 miles we were overtaken by the 3:55 pacers from wave 3, the first pacers we saw on course. In that final straight it is easy to get carried away, but Eric and I held back, shouting for everyone to pick up the pace and at least stay with us. I watched many runners pull ahead, as we reached the turn on the incline, into the finish. Official finish time 3:59:39. In context my watch recorded 26.71 miles, so half a mile further, which is over 4.5 minutes difference.
Chicago Marathon could not have been any better. Finishing off with a few Goose Island beers, then heading back to the hotel to get my bag and straight to the airport. Just over 13 hours after finishing Chicago Marathon I landed in London Heathrow. What a fantastic weekend.
pickupthepacepaul 