Chicagoland Spring Marathon & Half Marathon

Those running in both the half and the full marathon — both feature USATF-certified routes — start their race together and follow the race route as it heads around the Navistar buildings and then onto Martingale Road, which takes runners south for roughly the next 2 1/2 miles. While these early miles are run on paved roadways, the rest of the race course takes runners onto the paved biking, running and walking trails that wind through Busse Woods, the park also known as the Ned Brown Preserve that lies just off the highway. This 3,700-acre park in northwestern Cook County is a forest oasis in the heavily populated, densely packed Chicago metro area. It draws plenty of walkers, inline skaters, rollerbladers and fishermen from around the local area, especially in the warm-weather months. Runners will stay on the trails for the next 8 1/2 miles or so of the half marathon, along what is roughly a Y-shaped route through the park. The course takes the field through a mixture of open meadows, densely wooded forest areas, and across the bridge that separates Busse Lake from the South Pool before bringing them back along the trail to Woodland Meadows Park and Martingale Road on the other side of the interstate, and then back north along Martingale along the route they ran earlier in the race.