Bank of America Chicago Marathon 2026

Sunday, 11 October 2026 · Chicago, United States

The weekend at a glance

Your number

Abbott Health & Fitness Expo, McCormick Place North Building, Hall B1. Thursday 8 October 10:00 to 18:00, Friday and Saturday 9:00 to 18:00

Grant Park opens

5:30 for runners, with gear check and the corrals

Waves

Wave 1 at 7:35, Wave 2 at 8:00, Wave 3 at 8:35

Corrals close

7:20, 7:45 and 8:10, wave by wave

Finish

Columbus Drive in Grant Park, beside the start

Time limit

6 hours 30 minutes, about 9:19 per km

Climb

The organiser gives no figure. It calls the course flat and fast

Weather

The last five race mornings ran from 7.3 °C to 20.7 °C at 7:00

Trains

CTA Red, Green and Orange lines to Roosevelt, and Red or Blue to Jackson

On this page

1. Getting to Chicago
2. Where to stay in Chicago
3. Collecting your number
4. Race morning
5. The course
6. Weather in Chicago in October
7. Afterwards
8. Other race weekends
9. Sources

Getting to Chicago

Chicago has two airports, O'Hare on the north-west side and Midway on the south-west. The Chicago Transit Authority runs a train from each. From O'Hare the Blue Line takes 40 to 45 minutes to downtown and runs 24 hours a day. Its station is on the lower concourse, linked to Terminals 1, 2 and 3. From Terminal 5, the international terminal, take the free airport train to Terminal 2 and follow the signs for CTA trains. The fare is $5 or less.

From Midway the Orange Line takes 20 to 25 minutes to the Loop and costs $2.50 or less. The station sits just east of the terminal, through an enclosed walkway. The Orange Line stops overnight, and the N62 Archer bus covers those hours. The CTA puts a taxi at around $40 from O'Hare and $25 from Midway.

Until 9 October the CTA is running a modified Blue Line timetable on the O'Hare branch at weekends and off-peak, because of construction.

For travel within the city you pay with a Ventra card or a contactless bank card, and two transfers within two hours are free. Metra sells a $7 day pass for Saturday or Sunday and a $10 weekend pass in the Ventra app.

Where to stay in Chicago

The start and finish are both in Grant Park, so one base does for the whole day. The organiser points runners to three CTA stops for the park. Roosevelt, on the Red, Green and Orange lines, serves the finish. Jackson, on the Red and Blue lines, is at mile 2 of the course, about 3 km. Walking times from the stations aren't published.

Staying in the Loop or the South Loop puts you on foot or one train from the gates. If you sleep further out, work back from 5:30, when the park opens, and leave room for the security screening at the gate. A rideshare can drop you west of Michigan Avenue and south of Ida B. Wells Drive.

Collecting your number

Packet pick-up is at the Abbott Health & Fitness Expo at McCormick Place, North Building, Level 3, Hall B1, 2301 S. Martin Luther King Drive. It opens on Thursday 8 October from 10:00 to 18:00, and on Friday 9 and Saturday 10 October from 9:00 to 18:00. Entry is free and everyone passes a security screening, so leave large bags and luggage behind.

Bring the Packet Pick-up Ticket emailed on 30 September, on your phone or printed, and one photo ID. You collect in person. Nobody can collect for you, nothing is posted, and there's no pick-up on race day. Your packet holds your bib and safety pins, a MYLAPS ThinTag timing device, a gear check tag, a Nike shirt and the clear plastic bag you use for gear check. If you're 21 or over, your bib carries a tag for one beer after the race.

From Michigan Avenue the CTA's #3 King Drive bus runs every 4 to 12 minutes to King Drive and 23rd, across the street. The Green Line stops at Cermak-McCormick Place, three blocks west. The organiser also suggests the Metra Electric line from downtown.

Race morning

Grant Park opens to runners at 5:30, and gear check and the corrals open at the same time. Every runner passes a security screening on the way in. The 2026 site map numbers the entrance gates from 1 to 7.

Your corral letter sets your wave, and you can't switch corral on the day. Corrals A to E form Wave 1, for estimated finishes up to 3:35:59. F, G, H and J form Wave 2, from 3:36 to 4:19:59. K, L, M and N form Wave 3, from 4:20 to 6:30. Final corrals went up in participant accounts on 20 August, and the email with your bib number names yours.

The organiser asks you to be in your corral about 20 minutes before it closes. A 4-hour runner in corral H has a Wave 2 corral closing at 7:45, so aim to be in it by 7:25 and expect to start some time after the 8:00 gun. Wave 1 closes at 7:20 for a 7:35 start, and Wave 3 at 8:10 for 8:35.

Gear check is for runners only, at the red, blue or orange area that matches the colour on your bib. Use only the clear plastic bag from your packet, with the tag from your bib attached, and leave phones and wallets out of it. Clothes you drop at the start go into marked collection zones and don't come back. Bags must be collected by 16:00.

A free bike valet at Michigan Avenue and Van Buren Street takes bikes from 4:00 to 16:00. Hydration backpacks and vests with a bladder are banned, but handheld bottles, soft flasks, fuel belts and vests with front pockets are allowed.

The course

The route leaves Grant Park, runs north through the Loop and up to Wrigleyville at about mile 8, or 13 km, then comes back south through Old Town and River North. The second half heads west to Greektown and the Illinois Medical District, south through Pilsen and Chinatown, and down to Bronzeville at mile 23 before the run north along Michigan Avenue to the finish on Columbus Drive. The organiser calls it flat and fast and publishes no climb figure.

There are 20 aid stations, one to two miles apart, about 1.6 to 3.2 km. Each one has a medical tent, toilets, Gatorade Endurance Formula and water, in that order. Maurten gels are at mile 12.4, about 20 km, and mile 18.1, about 29 km, one per runner. Bananas are at aid stations 16 to 18, between miles 20.2 and 23, or about 32.5 to 37 km. You can refill your own bottle at four stations, at about 9.2, 16.3, 25.3 and 32.7 km.

Clocks stand at every 5 km and at the finish, and kilometre markers sit beside them. Runners slower than 15 minutes a mile, about 9:19 per km, are moved to the pavement as roads reopen.

For supporters, the organiser lists a CTA stop for each stretch of the course. Grand on the Red Line reaches miles 1, 3 and 12.5. UIC-Halsted on the Blue Line reaches mile 14 in Greektown and mile 17, about 27 km. Sox-35th on the Red Line and 35th-Bronzeville-IIT on the Green Line reach miles 23 to 23.5, about 37 km.

Weather in Chicago in October

Wave 1 goes at 7:35, so the table gives Grant Park at 7:00 and at 13:00 on the last five race days.

The start ranged from 7.3 °C in 2022 to 20.7 °C in 2021, a gap of more than 13 degrees in the same week of October. In 2022 it warmed by almost 11 degrees between 7:00 and 13:00, so a Wave 3 runner finishing after 13:00 runs the last miles in much warmer air than the first.

Afterwards

The 27th Mile Post-Race Party is in Butler Field, at Columbus Drive and Jackson Drive, from 9:30 to 16:00. Your bib's tear-off tag buys one beer if you're 21 or over, redeemable until 15:30. Spectators can enter Grant Park from 9:30.

If you finish after 15:30, you're sent to an area just west of the finish line for your medal and refreshments, and spectators can reach it from 11th Street and Michigan Avenue. A gear bag left after 16:00 goes to the Grand Tradition Room at 720 S. Michigan Avenue, open from 17:30 to 19:00 on Sunday and from 8:00 to 15:00 on Monday 12 October.

Roosevelt station, on the Red, Green and Orange lines, is the organiser's stop for the finish. The Orange Line runs from there to Midway, and the Red to Jackson connects with the Blue Line for O'Hare.

Other race weekends

Bank of America Chicago Marathon is part of the Abbott World Marathon Majors. The series' other races with a guide here are TCS New York City Marathon, Tokyo Marathon, Boston Marathon, TCS London Marathon, Sanlam Cape Town Marathon, TCS Sydney Marathon and Berlin Marathon.

The next races with a guide

TCS New York City Marathon1 November 2026 · New York, United States Valencia Marathon6 December 2026 · Valencia, Spain Zurich Seville Marathon21 February 2027 · Seville, Spain

All race weekend guides

Sources

Written from the organiser's published information and the app's own race data, checked on 2 October 2026.

If something here is wrong or out of date, tell us.