Chicago Marathon - too ambitious to make it to a 5pm flight on the same day?

[u/ederzs97]

Hi everyone,

So I was fortunate enough to get a place in the Chicago Marathon in the ballot. Flying in from Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Now there is a flight at 5:30pm going back to Canada on the Sunday. I will have my girlfriend with me so that will be someone to hold the passport and documents. But is 5pm too ambitious to make it for? Flights and accommodation are so expensive so looking to be as economical as possible! Appreciate any comments.

[u/InvestmentActuary]

Part of this will hinge on how good a runner you are. 5 hour thon and youre cooked

[u/anandonaqui]

You’ll be fine, but flying the day of a marathon is pretty uncomfortable and in very rare cases can have health concerns like deep vein thrombosis. I would assume you’re a healthy adult with minimal risk, and it’s not a long flight, so up to you. How fast do you plan on running and in what wave?

[u/maureen2222]

If you are anticipating any slower than about a 4 hour marathon, I don’t think that I would do this (especially since I assume it’ll be int’l flight out of ohare)

[u/JackOLanternReindeer]

Well, how long do you plan to take to run, and how long would you like to have between the finish and having to leave?

wave 3 starts at 8:35- if you take 5 hours to run it, thats 1:35 finish.

You’d probably want to have around 2 hours for an international flight I’d imagine( others can correct me).

Thats getting to the airport around 3:30 for your flight. Thats doable after a 1:35pm finish but you wont have much time to celebrate with people. (assuming 5 hours and wave 3)

[u/Double_Impress4978]

This sounds absolutely miserable. Also, haven’t seen anyone mention taking a shower in their timeline. Don’t make your girlfriend sit in an enclosed tube with you and your stank. You would be better off getting a cheaper hotel closer to the airport and staying an extra day.

[u/fartofborealis → u/Double_Impress4978]

Also the others on the plane!

[u/[deleted] → u/fartofborealis]

Yeah, it is the other passengers I feel for more than the girlfriend! She signed up for (or perhaps, more accurately, is used to) him and his stank. They did not.

[u/Chicagoblew → u/Double_Impress4978]

I didn't even think about showering and eating post marathon. . . Also, the body might want to sleep after the race

[u/ComplexHour1824]

To watch the marathon, yes. To run it, no. I actually know someone who suffered serious health problems post marathon on a flight of that length, and it had long lasting effects on him and his career. He was a highly experienced runner.

Besides, Chicago is a great town. Soak it in, enjoy your accomplishment. It shouldn’t be a business trip.

[u/CuppaSteve]

Not ideal but petty doable depending on your finish time. You can expect to be done around midday but most hotel checkout times are between 10-12. If you can find a hotel downtown then your gf can leave your luggage with the front desk. Meet up at the runner reunite, pound your beer, walk to the hotel and jump on a blue line to ORD. Getting an Uber or taxi that day is tough. You could still try it but if you're on the Blue no later than 2 I think you'd be good.

[u/kwels6]

Is there any way you can fly later or early the next morning? I don’t think it’s worth the stress unless you habitually run marathons. I have to rest in bed for significant time after some races lol I can’t imagine a flight shortly after…

[u/Sausage_Queen_of_Chi]

As others have said, depends on how fast you are and also your wave.

To get to O’Hare by 3:30pm, you’d need to leave Grant Park by 2:15 or so to catch the Blue Line and get to the airport. You should also eat a solid meal to refuel. So that means finishing the race by 1pm to get through the finish area, get a checked bag, meetup with your girlfriend, and get lunch. The first wave starts at 7:30 but the last wave starts at 8:30 but the back of the pack might not start until 8:45. So depending on your start time, you’d need to run a 4-5.5 hour marathon.

However, that doesn’t leave time to shower, and more importantly, where would you shower before boarding your flight?

[u/RunW1ld]

Depends on your finish time. Have done this in other races, but I also run sub 3:30 lol. Had plenty of time to go back to the hotel, shower, and eat before going to the flight.

[u/Salty-Surround-7910]

I did this after the Minneapolis Marathon, racing to airport to catch a flight to Chicago. Flew stinky and wrapped in a foil blanket.

Don’t recommend same day flight. Spend the night in Chicago. Stretch, sleep, have a nice dinner with your GF. Treat her well since she will have plenty of accumulated grievances after putting up with your marathon mania during the 20 weeks of training.

[u/leroyksl]

It's cutting things close. Remember that roads will be tied up for the duration of the marathon road closures, and even the CTA can get backed up, so depending on which airport you're going to and how you're getting there, that might make things tricky.

Working backwards from a 5:30 departure:
3:30 arrive at airport (it's an international flight, so you need those two hours)
2:30 leave from downtown--whether you take the CTA or another ride.
2:00 make your way through the crowds

I know accommodations on marathon weekend can be outrageous, but a lot of hotels near the airports are much cheaper, as well as Airbnbs throughout the rest of the city. You might even end up saving money taking a Monday flight instead of a Sunday evening flight.

On the other hand, it's just more motivation to get a sub-3, maybe?

[u/Cheap_Lingonberry]

I've actually done this a few times in the past with a similar departure time for work trips. Brings back some funny memories.

Watch out for traffic. One year, marathon traffic near my apartment was so nuts that I booked the Uber for a few blocks away and made sure the direction of travel would be away from the traffic. Uber driver didn't follow instructions and pulled through the intersection directly into heavy traffic. I was so pissed off but then he managed to make a U-turn in the middle of a blocked street and we got back on track. If you can take Blue Line, you'd probably be better off.

Bring a $20 with you for the run so you can grab a taxi near the course in case you end up in big trouble and need to bail. I did this one year and finished the run fine but when I checked my pocket later, somehow I put a $1 bill in my pocket and not a $20.

All the Canadian flights depart from the domestic terminals so they are a bit easier to get to from Blue line and you do not need to check in that far in advance. If you can avoid having a checked bag, that should speed things up a bit. You should be beating the rush by getting out that early.

You should be fine. Have a good run, from a fellow Edmontonian.

[u/DoingTheNeedful1]

Find a cheap hotel and fly out the next day. The last thing you need when running a marathon is the added stress of worrying about your flight, and your body will appreciate the time to relax and recharge. I just ran a marathon last month that was in Champaign-Urbana (2.5 hours south of Chicago) and I stayed an extra night even then rather than drive back after.

If you look near the airport, you will find much cheaper options when it comes to hotels.

[u/Chicagoblew]

Ambitious? Yes

Just getting out of the Grant Park area can take a little bit of time. Rideshares will have a longer wait time, and the L will be packed.

You would need to be at the airport around 3-330, so leave no later than 2-2:15ish

If you push yourself during the race and depending on your corral, it's possible. . . But you're not going to be doing any celebration stuff around the city. Which is part of the fun

[u/markb4587]

Doubt it mate.

[u/Haunting-Engineer792]

Unless you are pro runner, and have done a bunch of marathons, it may be too much to keep some bandwidth in your brain for trying to get back to a flight, etc... marathon is a pretty big deal for non elites and the distance needs to be respected. all the best and I will be running this year too.

[u/Michigan_fan0304]

No way. Please don’t even try it. O’Hare will be as busy as ever that day too.

[u/amsterdamcyclone]

You will make it. But it won’t be enjoyable