London has Buck Palace, Tower Bridge & the Tower of London New York has Staten Island, Queensboro Bridge & Central Park Berlin has the Riechstag & Brandenberg gateTokyo is unique in itself and Boston is well Boston. But what about Chicago? Leading up to the race I really didn't know what to expect. There were no iconic monuments or buildings I was looking forward to running past, no major wow moments... other than the finish line of course. However what Chicago does have is support... and lots of it. The organisers make a really big deal about the marathon going through 29 different neighbourhoods of Chicago and whilst I didn't necessarily spot them all, you really notice and appreciate the contrast as your work your way around the 26.2 miles from the skyscrapers of downtown to the lake views and scenery of Lincoln Park and the variety of Chinatown, Little Italy and Greektown. Its fascinating to see how each of these different communities come out to celebrate and cheer you on in their own unique way. This for me is what made Chicago a truly memorable experience. The course itself is very flat and I guess relatively fast with most of it being on long straight and wide tarmac roads. Registration was easy at the race expo in the days leading up to the race (although get there early as the queues can be large at peak times) and the race village was easy to access, find everything you need and have a smooth start to race day. The 2018 medal and race shirt were really cool and my personal highlight way receiving my medal from Paula Radcliffe at the finish line! Video highlights of my Chicago Marathon are now up. Check it out here: https://youtu.be/B2VZSMWxZ3I