Chicago Marathon

Course & Elevation

The Bank of America Chicago Marathon is run on the second Sunday of October, and it is one of the Abbott World Marathon Majors. The 48th running was on 11 October 2026 and the 49th is set for Sunday 10 October 2027, with the start at 7:30 a.m. in Grant Park. The race starts and finishes in Grant Park on a World Athletics-certified loop course and passes through 29 Chicago neighborhoods, including Lakeview, Greektown, Little Italy, Pilsen, Chinatown and Bronzeville, according to the organisers. The organisers say about 10,000 volunteers and 1.7 million spectators support the race. The first Chicago Marathon in the present series was held on 25 September 1977 with 4,200 participants, after earlier Chicago marathons were run from 1905 into the 1920s. In 2026 a race-record 54,492 runners finished. The men's course record of 2:00:35 was set by Kelvin Kiptum in 2023 and was a world record at the time; the women's course record of 2:09:56 was set by Ruth Chepngetich in 2024. Entry is by application to a guaranteed and non-guaranteed draw, held in October for the following year's race.