How bad is it. Coming in from Rockford and have the option to drive to Harvard and take the train or drive in. I’ve gone 3-4 times now and have always taken the train or marathon bus. Always been much closer to a train station too.
The idea of A) paying 10 gagillion dollars for parking does not appeal to me and B) fighting tons of traffic. However the idea of driving 40 minutes for a 2 hour train ride doesn’t particularly strike my fancy either.
~Matt
I would say get as close as you can and take the train. A couple years ago we tried to drive in and park and ended up spending an hour + finding a space, paying $30 to park, and nearly 2 hours getting out of there…IMO its not worth it…I’ve taken the train ever since. Take the train, spend some time post race chillin in the park with the other finishers and the fam and then head back…
i live downtown close to the start, so i can’t say what driving/parking will be like, but if you do take an el train, make sure you check the schedules… depending on how early you want to get to grant park, some lines may not be running. i believe the blue and red lines run all night, but i remember one year i assumed i could take the brown line only to walk a mile there to find out it didn’t start running for another hour.
also be sure to check train construction schedules… sometimes the red line runs on brown line tracks on the weekends.
Don’t get me started! My driveway is used to hold the “1 mile left” clock, so I can’t come or go from the start of the marathon until after the final people pass in my car! Normally this isn’t a big deal, except I want to do a cross race in Hawthorn Woods on Sunday, so I have to pay for parking (of course I can’t use the spot that cost me $30k) somewhere away from my place and ride my bike to my car in the morning.
Damn runners. lol
I live in the West Loop just north of the half-way point. For the past couple years, I’ve taken the bus down to the start area before the roads close and when the race is over I take the bus back (streets are open again). Last year my buddy drove in from Rockford, parked across the street from my condo and we took the bus. Cost a couple bucks for the bus ride but the parking was free and he was able to get in/out of the city easily. Plus, I don’t think there was a train that got to Chicago early enough on Sunday.
Good luck,
Chris
Rather than Harvard, maybe try Elgin? I’m assuming 90 would be an easy shot for you.
2 friends of mine from back home are in killer shape for the race. Damn I miss the weather change- it’s “cooled off” to highs in the mid-high 80’s here.
Rather than Harvard, maybe try Elgin?
Hmmm, hadn’t thought of that Elgin’s right on the way an I think the station isn’t far off of 90. I’ll look into that.
~Matt
or you could drive to cumberland (there’s a big CTA park and ride there), and take the Blue line train to Jackson…
Isn’t there a shuttle bus that leaves Rockford early on Sunday morning specially for the Marathon? I think I saw about it on the roadrunners webpage. Look into that.
DPC