168 feet of climbing is the least of the 18 courses I cover. See all 18, flattest to hilliest.
Chicago Marathon course map
Chicago Marathon elevation profile
"I'd been on the same 4:10 marathon plateau for three years. The plan stopped treating every Tuesday like an interval day, started giving me real recovery, and I ran 3:48 in Chicago."
Ran the Chicago Marathon?
Let’s build the next one around you. I write every plan by hand, set the race-day pacing with you and adjust it every week. It starts with a free 20-minute call.
Book a free intro callThis year’s race day: 60°F with a 53°F dew point at the 7:35am start, a combined score of 113. Every race morning since 2000, the forecast six days out and your goal pace adjusted for it are on the Chicago Marathon weather page. For any other forecast, my heat pace calculator does the same math.
How I’d run it, stretch by stretch
Miles 1 to 3: the Loop and the river
Over these 2.9 miles the course climbs 57 feet and drops 56, about level overall.
Chicago starts in the canyon of the Loop, where tall buildings scramble GPS, so the pace on your watch for the first three miles is mostly fiction. Run by feel and check your splits at the mile markers instead. The steel-grate bridges over the river are carpeted for the day; shorten up on them. The crowds are deep from the first block, which makes this the easiest place on the course to go out too fast.
Miles 3 to 11: north to Lincoln Park and Lakeview
Over these 8.4 miles the course climbs 42 feet and drops 47, about level overall.
The run north on LaSalle Drive and through Lincoln Park is the flattest, easiest stretch of a flat course, and Lakeview brings some of the loudest crowds of the day. This is where you settle into goal pace and stop thinking about it. Take your first gel around mile 5 or 6, then keep to the schedule.
Miles 12 to 14: Old Town, River North and halfway
Over these 2.4 miles the course climbs 17 feet and drops 20, about level overall.
Wells Street brings you back south through Old Town and River North and across the river again, with halfway on Wacker Drive. Check in here: if goal pace still feels controlled at halfway, you’re on track. If it already feels like work, ease off now, because Chicago’s second half is where a fast first half gets paid for.
Miles 14 to 17: the West Loop and Greektown
Over these 4 miles the course climbs 6 feet and drops 6, about level overall.
The run out Adams Street to the West Side and back on Jackson Boulevard is the quietest part of the course, wide and exposed, with the crowds thinning past the West Loop. If there’s wind, this is where you’ll feel it most. Tuck in behind a group and let them take it. Greektown on Halsted brings the noise back.
Miles 18 to 21: Little Italy, Pilsen and Chinatown
Over these 3.7 miles the course climbs 16 feet and drops 18, about level overall.
Taylor Street, then Pilsen on 18th Street, one of the loudest stretches on the course, then Chinatown around mile 21. This is where the marathon starts to hurt. Keep fueling on schedule and run it one neighborhood at a time.
Miles 22 to 25: Bronzeville and Michigan Avenue
Over these 4.5 miles the course climbs 11 feet and drops 8, about level overall.
The last long stretch runs down and back on Michigan Avenue through Bronzeville, flat, straight and exposed, with the skyline in front of you on the way home. It’s mentally the hardest part of Chicago, because downtown looks close long before it is. Lock onto the next landmark, not the skyline.
The last 0.3: Mount Roosevelt
Over these 0.3 miles the course climbs 18 feet and drops 4, 16 feet net up.
The only hill is the last one: Roosevelt Road climbs about 20 feet up and over the tracks a few hundred meters from the finish, then a left onto Columbus Drive. It’s short, but at mile 26 it feels like more. Shorten your stride, drive your arms, and the finish is right there at the top.
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The course mile by mile
| Mile | Elevation at the marker | Climb | Drop | Street |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mile 1 | 594 | +37 | −43 | North Columbus Drive |
| Mile 2 | 593 | +11 | −13 | Dearborn Street Bikeway |
| Mile 3 | 597 | +9 | −7 | South LaSalle Street |
| Mile 4 | 594 | +1 | −3 | North LaSalle Drive |
| Mile 5 | 597 | +8 | −5 | North LaSalle Drive |
| Mile 6 | 592 | +6 | −10 | North Stockton Drive |
| Mile 7 | 588 | +4 | −9 | North Sheridan Road |
| Mile 8 | 591 | +7 | −4 | North Recreation Drive |
| Mile 9 | 591 | +3 | −2 | North Broadway |
| Mile 10 | 602 | +11 | −0 | North Clark Street |
| Mile 11 | 595 | +0 | −8 | North Sedgwick Street |
| Mile 12 | 593 | +2 | −4 | North Wells Street |
| Mile 13 | 596 | +9 | −5 | North Wells Street |
| Mile 14 | 593 | +9 | −13 | West Adams Street |
| Mile 15 | 594 | +2 | −1 | West Adams Street |
| Mile 16 | 593 | +1 | −1 | South Damen Avenue |
| Mile 17 | 593 | +1 | −1 | West Jackson Boulevard |
| Mile 18 | 593 | +1 | −1 | South Halsted Street |
| Mile 19 | 591 | +2 | −4 | South Loomis Street |
| Mile 20 | 592 | +2 | −1 | West 18th Street |
| Mile 21 | 586 | +3 | −9 | West Cermak Road |
| Mile 22 | 592 | +12 | −5 | South Wentworth Avenue |
| Mile 23 | 595 | +3 | −1 | South Michigan Avenue |
| Mile 24 | 595 | +2 | −2 | South Indiana Avenue |
| Mile 25 | 593 | +1 | −3 | South Michigan Avenue |
| Mile 26 | 603 | +13 | −1 | South Michigan Avenue |
| To the finish | 609 | +7 | −4 | East Roosevelt Road |
Race week, start to finish: how I’d run the three-week taper, what to take in during the race, how much to slow down in heat and humidity, and what the four weeks after should look like.
Want this course planned around you?
A course map tells you where the hills are. It doesn't know your training, how you handle a long climb, or what your legs look like at mile 20. I write every plan by hand and set race-day pacing with each athlete. It starts with a free 20-minute call.
Book a free intro callMore course guides
Race-day weather and heat-adjusted pace: Twin Cities Marathon, Columbus Marathon, Detroit Marathon, Marine Corps Marathon, NYC Marathon, Philadelphia Marathon, California International Marathon, Honolulu Marathon, Houston Marathon, LA Marathon, Boston Marathon, Eugene Marathon, Flying Pig Marathon, Pittsburgh Marathon, Rock 'n' Roll San Diego Marathon, Grandma's Marathon, San Francisco Marathon. All race-day weather pages.
RunFitCoach is not affiliated with the Bank of America Chicago Marathon or its organizers. Course line, place names and water © OpenStreetMap contributors. Elevation from the USGS 3D Elevation Program (1 m bare earth), sampled every 50 m and smoothed over 250 m. Bare-earth elevation leaves bridges out, so bridge decks are rebuilt from their ends. Distances are scaled to the certified 42.195 km, so mile marks can sit a little off the course markers. The line is routed street by street through the 2026 course’s turns rather than surveyed, so here that can be up to a quarter mile.