Registration windows for Chicago's marquee running trio are now set, with the Bank of America Chicago Marathon set to open applications on October 8 and the Shamrock Shuffle 8K sign-ups already underway. The three-race lineup — the Shamrock Shuffle, Chicago 13.1, and the Chicago Marathon — makes up the Bank of America Chicago Distance Series, and organizers say demand keeps climbing each year.
According to NBC Chicago, applications for the 2027 Distance Series began as early as Tuesday. Carey Pinkowski, executive race director of the Chicago Marathon, Chicago 13.1 and Shamrock Shuffle, said the fifth annual series marks an exciting moment in the city's running history, adding that participation and interest have grown every year, per the same outlet's reporting.
Shamrock Shuffle Kicks Off the Season in March
The 2027 Bank of America Shamrock Shuffle, an annual 8K billed as the kickoff to Chicago's outdoor running season, will take place March 21, 2027, in the Loop and surrounding areas, the station notes. Registration opened this week and costs $51 through October 20, rising to $56 at 11:59 p.m. Central on October 20. The event also includes a 2-mile walk, priced at $51, on March 21, while the mile event costs $25 for adults and $15 for participants ages 8 to 12 and takes place Saturday, March 20.
From there, runners head to the Chicago 13.1, which shifts the series to the West Side. The Bank of America Chicago 13.1 is scheduled for June 6, 2027, with registration already open and an entry fee of $120. The half marathon route through Humboldt Park, Garfield Park, and Douglass Park is described by the Bank of America Chicago Marathon, which describes the 13.1 as the summer anchor of the three-race series.
Marathon Applications Open a Three-Week Window in October
The 2027 Chicago Marathon itself will run October 10, 2027, in Chicago. Registration opens at 8 a.m. Central on October 8, 2026, and the application period stays open for three weeks, closing at 2 p.m. Central on October 29, per NBC Chicago's report. Entry fees are $250 for U.S. residents and $260 for applicants from outside the country.
Guaranteed entry is available to several groups: runners who meet age-graded qualifying standards or qualify for the high-performance division, legacy finishers who have completed the marathon at least five times in the past decade, and registered participants who canceled their 2026 entry. Charity participants fundraising through the official Bank of America Chicago Marathon Charity Program and runners booked through an official tour operator also secure guaranteed spots, the station reports. Anyone who completed the 2026 Distance Series — the Shamrock Shuffle, Chicago 13.1, and marathon in the same year — likewise earns guaranteed entry. Everyone else can apply for the non-guaranteed entry lottery, which selects names from the applicant pool, with selected applicants notified December 8, 2026.
A 50th-Anniversary Prize Down the Road
Runners eyeing 2027 have an added incentive: completing all three events in that year's Distance Series will earn an exclusive finisher medal and guaranteed entry into the landmark 50th running of the Chicago Marathon in 2028, according to the Bank of America Newsroom. The Distance Series links the Shamrock Shuffle, Chicago 13.1, and marathon into a single year-long challenge for amateur runners chasing a guaranteed path around an increasingly competitive lottery.
Access has become a central issue as demand for marathon bibs has surged. The Bank of America Chicago Distance Series also runs an “Entries for Equity” initiative, awarding complimentary entries across all three races to local organizations focused on diversity, equity, and inclusion in sport, according to Read & Run Chicago, a partner group that uses running and literature to explore city neighborhoods.
Chicago's Growing Economic and Athletic Footprint
The stakes for the series extend well beyond finisher medals. An independent economic analysis found that the 2025 Bank of America Chicago Marathon, held October 12, 2025, generated a record $756 million for the Chicago metropolitan economy — a 7.5% jump over 2024 — supporting more than 5,100 local jobs, according to the Bank of America Newsroom. More than 75% of visitors that year traveled in from outside Illinois. Runners also raised a record $47.1 million for charity in 2025, pushing cumulative fundraising through the marathon's official Charity Program past $405 million since 2002, as Hoodline reported in its earlier piece on the race's economic windfall.
The race's elite pedigree has only added to its draw. Kenyan marathoner Ruth Chepngetich set a women's world record at the 2024 Chicago Marathon, finishing in 2:09:56 to become the first woman to break the two-hour-ten-minute barrier, as reported by the Associated Press. She dedicated the win to the late Kelvin Kiptum, the Kenyan runner who set the men's world marathon record of 2:00:35 in Chicago in 2023 before his death in February 2024; he was honored with a moment of silence at the start line the following year. American Conner Mantz added to the course's résumé in October 2025, setting the U.S. men's national marathon record of 2:04:43 in Chicago and breaking a 23-year-old mark previously held by Khalid Khannouchi, according to FloTrack.
Chicago's marathon is one of the World Marathon Majors alongside Tokyo, Boston, London, Sydney, Berlin, and New York, and it received a World Athletics Heritage Plaque in 2024 recognizing its historic contributions to road racing. The modern race traces back to 1977, when it debuted as the Mayor Daley Marathon with 4,200 runners, building on a local marathon tradition dating to 1905, when a 15-runner race from Evanston to Washington Park was briefly halted by a swing bridge opening for a passing steamboat, according to WTTW.
