The tree-lined streets of Chicago’s Highland Park neighborhoods are the setting for the North Shore Classic Half Marathon, which takes runners on a 13.1-mile tour of some of the areas made famous in the movies made by director John Hughes in the 1980s, including “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off,” “Sixteen Candles” and “The Breakfast Club,” to name just a few.
Most of the race is run on flat terrain through city streets, with the exception of a few gently rolling hills in the middle portion of the race.
The race saw more than 2,000 runners cross the finish line at its 2016 running. It starts and finishes at the Wolter’s Field track and field complex at Highland Park High School. From there, the course takes participants on a counter-clockwise loop tour of the North Shore area, including the famous Green Bay Trail, Sheridan Road and Fort Sheridan.
Runners will be expected to keep at least a 15-minute-per-mile pace, as the race organizers will need to re-open the course to traffic by 12 noon.
Most of the race is flat with the exception of a few hilly stretches between miles five and ten, with the most significant hill occurring at about mile 9, the “Park Avenue Beach Hill.”
Following this hill, the last four miles of the race take runners again on mostly flat terrain, along the streets of Highland Park and back for the finishing lap around the track at Wolter’s Field.
