Illinois · Half Marathon
Every upcoming Half Marathon around Chicago, with start times, entry fees, finish-time stats from past editions, start-line maps, and the local run clubs to train with.
34 upcoming Half Marathon races found
Chicago racing is shaped by the same geography that defines every run here: the long, flat corridor of the Lakefront Trail with Lake Michigan on one side and the skyline on the other, the elevated calm of The 606 cutting through Logan Square and Wicker Park, and the downtown park circuits through Grant Park and the Museum Campus where the city feels both enormous and navigable at once.
Wind off the lake is a genuine factor in any season, and so is the winter cold - but Chicago runners stay out year-round, and the race calendar reflects that stubbornness, with events spread across every season including a strong winter stretch. If you want company while you train, the city has no shortage of crews to run with before you ever pin on a bib.
By the numbers
The Chicago races that stand out on the numbers: the biggest field, and the longest unbroken run of editions.
Train for it
The fastest way to a start line is a standing group run. These Chicago clubs welcome Half Marathon runners of all paces.
Browse all Chicago run clubs →How we calculate these stats: RunSesh calculates these figures from the most recent published results of past editions, sourced from RunSignup. We show aggregates only: field size, winning and median times, and the cutoff. We never publish individual finisher tables. Last updated Jul 27, 2026.
Entry fees run from $12.99 at the low end to $85 at the top. The typical fee sits at $30, and a large cluster of races - including the Run for Coffee Lovers, Run for Donuts, Bagel Run, Sloth Run, Oktoberfest Run, and several others - are priced right at that figure. Three races already have a price increase scheduled, so if you are eyeing one of those, registering sooner will cost you less.
Fall is the busiest stretch, with 15 races between September and November and October alone hosting 6. Winter is surprisingly active too, with 11 races from December through February - a sign that Chicago runners do not hibernate. Spring is the quietest window; only 1 race falls in that season, and April is the quietest single month on the calendar.
Only 1 of the 34 races here has published finish-time results, so there is not enough data to give you a meaningful field comparison for Chicago half marathons specifically. What that also means: most of these races are not the kind of heavily tracked, results-published events where everyone's time is scrutinized. For a sense of how you stack up at the 13.1 distance nationally, check the finish-time tiles elsewhere on this page.
Shirts are very common here - 33 of the 34 races say they give one. Medals are a different story: none of the 34 races state that they give a medal. Every race on this page has published some giveaway information, so the silence on medals is not a data gap; these races simply do not advertise one.
Chicago has a real running community.
Crews active in the city include:
The Lakefront Trail and The 606 are where group runs tend to concentrate, and post-run spots along the Riverwalk and in Lakeview and Logan Square are easy to find.
Yes, one race around Chicago gets you off the pavement: 1 mixes road and trail. Surfaces are not always published, so it is worth checking a specific race before you register.
