F3 Lake Half Marathon & 5K

Freezing cold, but well worth it in the end. Awards ceremony inside of the Chicago Bears stadium, with beer, and food. This 5k, and Half Marathon had many vendors inside as well. The Half Marathon medals are pretty cool looking, and you receive a hat, and gloves with your registration. Courses are flat, out-​and-​back courses. Dress warm!

This wasn’t at Montrose Harbor but started at Soldier Field for 2015. I couldn’t agree more that the access to the north parking garage and walk right into the United Club was so convenient! Very well organized and the weather they ordered up couldn’t have been better for January. Well done!

This was a seriously well-​done production. You park at Soldier Field for $ 22 and walk right into the United Club, where there are restrooms a plenty and the pre-​race shenanigans. Everyone walks out to the start line together (which admittedly is a bit of a cluster) and then start for a jog north around Soldier Field, then south on the Lakeshore Path towards the South Shore Cultural Center. There are four aid stations with bathrooms that you pass twice on the half marathon course, which is a course that loops around. What I enjoyed about this is you literally see every person running the race before and after you make the turnaround. It’s a nice distraction.
The finisher’s chute included hot cocoa, organic protein drink and KIND bars. Once you go back inside, you get one free Goose Island beer and can bask in the afterglow of a job well-​done from the toasty comfort of the United Club. All 13.1 finishers get a medal, which was a really nice bottle opener in full color. The swag included with admission was a nice beanie hat and running gloves. I appreciate that because the last thing I need on planet earth is another running shirt.
I would say the drawbacks to this race are the weather, which can certainly be unpredictable this time of year. Also, this is a pricey race if you don’t get in on the early bird pricing, and finally, the Lakefront Path is open throughout the race. However, it’s not particularly crowded on a brisk January morning anyhow.

I have zero clue what I was thinking when I registered for this half. Run a half marathon in the middle of winter?! In Chicago?! I’m loony.
I must say F³ events did an Excellent job organizing this race. They cleared the Lake Front path very well (only a few dicey/​slippery spots). The race started on time which I’m extremely grateful. Plan your arrival well enough and you’re not stuck outside freezing for too long. Which brings me to the warming tents. All they really did was put up a tent. No heat in it. When I ran the Polar Dash half a few years ago they had heat lamps set up. F³ you should look into that.
I can’t say enough good things about the volunteers. At least I was running and moving. To stand around for hours with hydration and fuel for a bunch of crazy runners in frigid temps is pretty freaking brave. And awesome. Love those men and women!
Very well planned race. I was freezing and as I write this review I still don’t have full feeling in my toes back. I’ll never be stupid enough to run a half in January during Chiberia aka the Polar Vortex. But if I do have a momentary lapsed of good judgement I’d run it with F³ events.

If you like running in the winter, and like doing races that prove how crazy you are, the F³ Half is a good race to do. I ran the 2013 race, but I’ll be honest, it’s a one-​and-​done race for me.
Good: smooth logistics, if you get there early (I think we got there a little over an hour before race time), you can find free parking pretty close to the start, the course wasn’t too crowded after the first mile or two, the race had a fun atmosphere, after crossing the finish line I believe they had the usual water and bagels and such, and the post-​race party was at the Cubbie Bear — all runners got a 312 beer.
But: it’s cold in January. I don’t mind running throughout the winter, but I’m starting to re-​evaluate doing longer races during the winter. I think I might stick to 5K’s from December to March. We were lucky that everyone in our group finished relatively close to each other, so we didn’t have to wait around much, because as soon as you stop running, you get COLD. But the post-​race party was indoors, so we hopped in the car and headed there. But, if you will be waiting around post-​race, make sure to bring some warm layers to throw on. But big ups to the volunteers for this race, I’m sure they were pretty cold as well.
Also, the course is on the Lakefront Path. I’m starting to also re-​evaluate paying to do races on the Lakefront Path, because they don’t close the path down during races. Which isn’t a huge deal in January (not many people on the path), but I’m kind of over races that don’t have closed courses. Plus there are SO MANY races on the LFP, I need a bigger draw.
So, I definitely recommend this race if the idea of a half marathon in January appeals to you. But personally, I did it once and I think that’s enough for me.

there’s a fine line between small hometown races and just not having your act together. I used to give the benefit of the doubt for the former, but lately it has been the latter.
The 2012 race was simply unsafe. I get it — its a winter race in Chicago and you expect snow. But not having warming tents (as advertised) before or after the race was amateurish. The course was far too narrow and winding for a winter race.
I’ve been having problems registering for their burgers and beer 5K and can’t seem to get anyone to return an email. they’re amateurs.

Jen R. and Gina S. wrote such spot on reviews that I considered not even reviewing this race because I had nothing new to add. BUT the F’ing Freezing Frozen Lake Half Marathon is totally worthy of many glowing reviews.
Despite being held in the dead of Chicago winter, this is a great race! The whole event was extremely well executed. The volunteers were awesome! The other runners were great. The on course support was fantastic. Parts of it were icy, but nothing too treacherous, and what do you expect on the lakefront in January.
Registration just opened for the 2013 race, and I’m definitely planning to run again!

Well that was more fun than I thought it would be! Like another reviewer, I signed up for this ridiculous half marathon in January thinking «oh that will help me stay in shape and run more than 3 – 5 miles a day in the winter». FALSE. But even though my training was poor, I had a great time at the race.
Logistics:
Packet pick-​up was phenominal. I believe it was open for a full week either in Lakeview or in the Loop. So much more convenient than the typical races I’m used to in Chicago! Parking was easy (as expected). I got there about 30 min early and parked less than ¼ mile from the start. They had 3 water stations throughout the course. Made me a little worried so I brought my own (turned out to be a good move when they had run out of gatorade at the last aid stop)
The good:
*Every single race volunteer I encountered seemed to be so happy to be outside. It’s January, cold, and they weren’t even running — I don’t get it, but definitely appreciate it!
*They had a «warming tent» before the race for the people that didnt wait in their cars.
*The course itself spread out much quicker than I expected. Mile 1 was awful but it wasn’t too bad after that.
*Running through the park was a nice change of scenery than the lake path or streets downtown. It’s nice to be on the north end of the lake path for once
*I really liked the shirts. and my snuggie. I now own a snuggie.
*Thanks to this race occurring in the winter, the start time was 10am. Sure beats the typical 5am wake up for summer races.
The not so good:
*The ice. Yes, it’s January. Yes, I willingly signed up for this race. But I’m still going to complain about it. And the wind.
*Running out of gatorade at mile 10. I need my fuel! (and i was running around an 830 – 845 pace — not in the total back of the pack)
*Mile 1. Need to at least have signs so people can stand by their pace or split up the start a bit. My first half mile was at an 11:45 pace. BOO!
Overall great race — love having a winter option in Chicago!

Great race. My first half. See you next year!

F^ing Freezing Frozen Frosty FUN sums up the entire race. I honestly thought I would be ripping layers off mid-​way, NO-​way! January is not a month most think to run a 5K OR a half marathon outside for that matter. I didn’t run this half marathon with the intention of getting a PR (although I think it was), I ran to stay motivated through the winter and to get some confidence that I can run outside when it’s below freezing and I will survive.
Packet pick-​up was scheduled the week of the event, not on the day of. I was so glad they had the option available to pick-​up packets in the city. It is 100x’s more convenient for me to go into the city than to go to the Lakeview area. For those early bird’s like me, an early registration (top 200) got you a F³ logo’d Snuggie (which I didn’t have a Suggie yet, so I was like «Yea!» on the inside when I picked up my packet).
The race was limited to 1,200 runners. I think this was a good number to cap it at, the course didn’t feel congested for the majority of the race and it was enjoyable (I’ve ran another race throughout Montrose Harbor’s lakefront paths where it was bummer to bummer traffic the whole race, not enjoyable). There were parts at the beginning that were a little more crowded, but you’ll experience that in every race. Once I was into mile 2, I had plenty of room on the path.
The terrain was mostly asphalt but there were definitely parts that were snow covered, icy, slushy, muddy, grassy and irregular, it was through these parts where it was best to run smarter verses faster. I liked that it was all along running/​biking paths by the lakefront and not on the street. Traffic didn’t need to be rerouted for the event (I’m sure those not partaking in the crazy winter run appreciated that).
The swag for every runner… because I’m ALL about race swag (it helps me rationalize my entrance fee): short sleeved tech T-​shirt (long sleeved would have made more sense for this time of year but I’ll find plenty of times to wear it in the coming months), an awesome super shiny medal that doubles as a beer bottle opener (GENIUS!), race course fuel (I think there were about 3 – 4 water/​Gatorade stations and one Clif shot fuel spot mid-​way), post race goodies (banana’s, mini Clif bars, muscle milk) and an after party that continued at a local bar with specials on appetizers and beer (which I didn’t attend).
Parking was expressed as limited, but we arrived 30minutes before the start and were okay finding a spot along the street inside the park about a half mile from the start.
For a grass-​roots event held in the bitter cold of winter this is a really great event. Small size, nice perks/​swag, reasonable registration fee.