So you want to attend the Chicago Marathon? We wanted to attend, because my son was running it for the first time and his friend was on his 6th. First, the course is planned out pretty well and it appears that most everything has been thought of. There are port-a-potties everywhere. There is unlimited space for viewing. And, Bank of America has put together a phone app that was extraordinary. Besides giving plenty of information about times to be there and places to be, it has an exceptional tracking section. We were able to monitor their progress throughout. We found that of the four places that we watched, the app was only off by a half of block on just one of those viewing opportunities. So, seven of us started out to find viewing places and the night before we plotted out a course of action, with a "Plan B:" The first thing that is important to realize is that you can not drive through the course, so in order to get to different viewing areas, you have to drive on the surface street on the outskirts of the course. We were advised to use Uber or the "El", but once we started we realized that those two modes weren't going to work well. The thing to remember is that there are a lot of runners, so you have a choice - to sit at one spot and watch tens of thousands of runners go by, or to pick out a couple of spots and work your way around to them, while monitoring the tracking app, to see your specific runners. So, we headed for Addison St. and Broadway Ave., first. We found a spot to park and decided to leave one person with the car. There really is an ebb and flow among the spectators, so what is a crowded spot may not be for long. Our second spot was Adams St. and Ashland Ave., at M.M. 15. At this second spot, we were only able to view my son, as his friend had worked his way ahead. Again, we parked less than a block away and someone stayed with the car. Our 3rd choice was at Canalport and Cermak Rd. At this area, the neighborhood was a bit more desolate,. When we parked the car, we were very close and all of us were able to catch my son, as he went by. This was the one spot that the tracking off was a bit off. The final viewing area was the spectator area at the finish line at Roosevelt Rd. and Michigan Ave. We weren't able to park as close, but most of us did get to see my son as he came past the spectator area. The starting area is not a good spot to see your runner, there are far too many people. - in 2019, a mere 45,786 participants! With our planning, we were able to view my son running at four different spots. My grandkids loved to watch their Dad and uncle and the three of them had different signs that they had made the night before. It was a fun day. And the weather was nice. It never rained, it was not hot and muggy and it was a comfortable day for running. All in all, a lot of fun,