About 10,000 runners took to Chicago's South Side lakefront Sunday morning for the 29th annual Life Time Chicago Half Marathon and 5K, an event that began and ended in Jackson Park with a finish festival set for noon. Runners headed north along DuSable Lake Shore Drive before turning back south to the finish line, with the race lineup also including a 5-kilometer run and a kids run alongside the half marathon.
The race, first established in 1997 and relocated to its current Jackson Park course the following year, has grown into a South Side tradition that draws entrants from all 50 states and more than 50 countries, according to WGN-TV. Roughly 45 percent of Sunday's field were first-time half marathon or 5K participants, the station reports, a reminder that the event draws far beyond just seasoned racers.
A Tune-Up for the Chicago Marathon
For many in Sunday's field, the half marathon doubled as a final tune-up ahead of the Bank of America Chicago Marathon on October 11, per the station's report. That race is expected to draw more than 55,000 participants from all 50 states and more than 100 countries, according to the Bank of America Chicago Marathon, making the half marathon a natural dress rehearsal two weeks before the full 26.2-mile World Marathon Major event winds through 29 city neighborhoods.
Sunday's race is one leg of a two-race series; the other is the Life Time Chicago Spring Half Marathon, held each May along the lakefront. That spring edition drew 9,500 runners from 47 states and 35 countries this year and featured a youth program launched with Chicago Public Schools, in which more than 200 students completed a final-mile program, according to Life Time. Participants who register for both the spring and autumn half marathons earn a commemorative third medal, in addition to their individual race medals.
Rolling Through Six South Side Neighborhoods
The 13.1-mile course carries runners along DuSable Lake Shore Drive. The race begins and ends in Jackson Park, a historic 551-acre park designed by Frederick Law Olmsted for the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition and located adjacent to the Museum of Science and Industry and the Obama Presidential Center site, according to the City of Chicago.
Finishers take home a medal. The event also runs an official charity program, allowing participants to raise funds for partner organizations including the Life Time Foundation, the American Brain Tumor Association, and Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago.
Road Closures Across the South Side
To accommodate the race, the City of Chicago closed DuSable Lake Shore Drive from 31st Street to 67th Street starting at 6 a.m. Sunday, per the city. Several side streets were also shut down for the morning, including S. Richards Drive from E. Hayes Drive to E. Marquette Drive from 3 a.m. to 8:30 a.m., E. Hayes Drive from S. Cornell Drive to S. Stony Island Avenue, and S. Cornell Drive from E. Hayes Drive to E. Marquette Drive, from 3 a.m. to noon, according to the city.
Additional closures affected E. Marquette Drive between S. Cornell Drive and DuSable Lake Shore Drive, and both directions of DuSable Lake Shore Drive itself, from 6 a.m. to 11:30 a.m., per the city. Southbound DuSable Lake Shore Drive was scheduled to close from 31st Street to 57th Drive from 6 a.m. to 9:30 a.m., and from 57th Drive to E. Marquette from 6 a.m. to 11:30 a.m., while E. 47th Street, E. 57th Drive, and E. Science Drive were each closed from 6 a.m. to 11:30 a.m., the city says. Half-marathon participants were required to maintain a maximum pace of 16 minutes per mile to finish before those streets reopened to vehicular traffic, according to Life Time. Complete race information is available at chicagohalfmarathon.com.
