Chicago Marathon
The Chicago Marathon course, Grant Park to Grant Park through 29 neighbourhoods — one of the flattest big-city marathons. Full elevation profile. Free GPX download.
Route map
Drag to pan · scroll to zoom · pitched 50° to show terrain
Elevation profile
Per-kilometre breakdown
| Km | Elev start | Elev end | Δ Elevation | Grade | Profile |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 182 m | 178 m | -4 m | -0.4% | |
| 2 | 178 m | 179 m | +1 m | 0.1% | |
| 3 | 179 m | 182 m | +2 m | 0.2% | |
| 4 | 182 m | 181 m | 0 m | -0.0% | |
| 5 | 181 m | 179 m | -2 m | -0.2% | |
| 6 | 179 m | 179 m | +1 m | 0.1% | |
| 7 | 179 m | 181 m | +2 m | 0.2% | |
| 8 | 181 m | 183 m | +1 m | 0.1% | |
| 9 | 183 m | 181 m | -2 m | -0.2% | |
| 10 | 181 m | 181 m | 0 m | 0.0% | |
| 11 | 181 m | 180 m | -1 m | -0.1% | |
| 12 | 180 m | 178 m | -2 m | -0.2% | |
| 13 | 178 m | 180 m | +2 m | 0.2% | |
| 14 | 180 m | 180 m | 0 m | 0.0% | |
| 15 | 180 m | 181 m | +1 m | 0.1% | |
| 16 | 181 m | 183 m | +2 m | 0.2% | |
| 17 | 183 m | 183 m | 0 m | -0.0% | |
| 18 | 183 m | 182 m | -1 m | -0.1% | |
| 19 | 182 m | 181 m | -1 m | -0.1% | |
| 20 | 181 m | 179 m | -2 m | -0.2% | |
| 21 | 179 m | 177 m | -1 m | -0.1% | |
| 22 | 177 m | 179 m | +1 m | 0.1% | |
| 23 | 179 m | 179 m | 0 m | 0.0% | |
| 24 | 179 m | 181 m | +2 m | 0.2% | |
| 25 | 181 m | 180 m | -1 m | -0.1% | |
| 26 | 180 m | 180 m | 0 m | -0.0% | |
| 27 | 180 m | 180 m | 0 m | 0.0% | |
| 28 | 180 m | 179 m | -1 m | -0.1% | |
| 29 | 179 m | 181 m | +2 m | 0.2% | |
| 30 | 181 m | 181 m | 0 m | 0.0% | |
| 31 | 181 m | 182 m | +2 m | 0.2% | |
| 32 | 182 m | 182 m | 0 m | -0.0% | |
| 33 | 182 m | 180 m | -2 m | -0.2% | |
| 34 | 180 m | 179 m | -1 m | -0.1% | |
| 35 | 179 m | 182 m | +3 m | 0.3% | |
| 36 | 182 m | 182 m | +1 m | 0.1% | |
| 37 | 182 m | 181 m | -1 m | -0.1% | |
| 38 | 181 m | 181 m | 0 m | 0.0% | |
| 39 | 181 m | 182 m | 0 m | 0.0% | |
| 40 | 182 m | 181 m | -1 m | -0.1% | |
| 41 | 181 m | 181 m | 0 m | 0.0% | |
| 42 | 181 m | 182 m | +1 m | 0.1% | |
| 43 | 182 m | 184 m | +2 m | 0.2% | |
| 44 | 184 m | 183 m | -1 m | -0.3% |
A short history
The Chicago Marathon was first run in 1977 and is one of the World Marathon Majors. It's known for one thing above all: it's flat and fast, a single loop that starts and finishes in Grant Park on the lakefront.
From Columbus Drive the course heads north through the Loop and up LaSalle into Lincoln Park and Lakeview, turns back south through Old Town, then runs west past the United Center. The second half swings south through Little Italy, Pilsen and Chinatown, out to Bronzeville, and home up Michigan Avenue to the one rise of note, the short climb up Roosevelt Road just before the finish.
About this GPX
This file follows the race's official street-by-street course.
- 1,501 waypoints, built from the official street list with every corner placed from OpenStreetMap and the legs between them snapped to the road grid
- Elevation on every waypoint from USGS 10 m terrain data, smoothed so the river bridges don't read as dips to water level
- Total distance: the trace follows road centrelines and measures about 43.4 km; SummitRoom runs it as the certified 42.195 km
- Climbing: about +45 m over the whole course, with nothing steeper than 1.3%
Direction: a loop. Grant Park → the Loop → Lincoln Park → Lakeview → Old Town → West Loop → Little Italy → Pilsen → Chinatown → Bronzeville → Michigan Avenue → Grant Park.
Treadmill simulation notes
There's very little to steer here, which is the point: Chicago is a pace course. On a Bluetooth treadmill the incline barely moves, so it's a good one for a steady long run or a marathon-pace session. The Roosevelt Road rise near the finish is a bridge ramp, which terrain data doesn't capture, so it isn't in this profile.
Want to run Chicago Marathon on your treadmill?
SummitRoom turns this exact GPX into a live 3D map run, with auto-incline matching every climb.
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