The 48th Chicago Marathon starts in Grant Park at 7:30 a.m. CT on Sunday, Oct. 11, and it is one of the easiest marathons in the world to follow from wherever you are. NBC 5 Chicago has the broadcast at home, Peacock and Roku stream it across the U.S., and the race’s free app tracks every one of the more than 55,000 runners expected on the start line. For anyone heading out to the course, the organizers expect more than a million spectators, spread across 29 neighborhoods.
On the road, the story is Jacob Kiplimo defending his title with a personal best seven seconds under the course record, Brigid Kosgei’s first Chicago start since her 2019 world record, and two Americans, Charles Hicks and Clayton Young, going after Conner Mantz’s American record. Our elite field preview has the full start lists.
Race Day at a Glance
- Date: Sunday, Oct. 11, 2026
- Professional start: 7:30 a.m. CT
- Wave starts: 7:35 a.m. (Wave 1), 8 a.m. (Wave 2), 8:35 a.m. (Wave 3)
- TV: NBC 5 Chicago and Telemundo Chicago, 7 to 11 a.m. CT
- Streaming: Peacock and Roku, 7 to 11 a.m. CT; nbcchicago.com and telemundochicago.com until 3 p.m.
- Marathon Handbook watch-along: YouTube, from about 7 a.m. CT
- Radio: 104.3 The Score, 670 AM, the Audacy app and SiriusXM, 7 to 11 a.m. CT
- Runner tracking: the free Bank of America Chicago Marathon app
Start Time Around the World
The professional race starts at 7:30 a.m. Central Time, which works out to:
| Location | Start Time (Sunday, Oct. 11) |
|---|---|
| Chicago (CT) | 7:30 a.m. |
| New York, Toronto (ET) | 8:30 a.m. |
| Los Angeles (PT) | 5:30 a.m. |
| Mexico City | 6:30 a.m. |
| São Paulo | 9:30 a.m. |
| London | 1:30 p.m. |
| Brussels, Paris, Berlin | 2:30 p.m. |
| Nairobi, Addis Ababa | 3:30 p.m. |
| Tokyo | 9:30 p.m. |
| Sydney | 11:30 p.m. |
How to Watch on TV
NBC 5 Chicago is the home of the race and goes on air at 7 a.m. CT, half an hour before the gun, staying with it until 11 a.m. That window covers both elite finishes and the first big rush of age-group runners. Paul Swangard, Marion Brooks and Stefan Holt anchor the coverage, with Kara Goucher, Ed Eyestone, Carrie Tollefson and Amanda McGrory on analysis.
Telemundo Chicago carries the Spanish-language broadcast in the same window, with Raul Delgado and Héctor Lozano anchoring and Juan Luis Barrios, Luis Posso and Saul Mendoza as analysts.
How to Stream the Chicago Marathon
Viewers anywhere in the U.S. can stream the four-hour broadcast live on Peacock and Roku from 7 to 11 a.m. CT.
The coverage keeps going after the TV broadcast ends. Nbcchicago.com, telemundochicago.com and the two stations’ apps stay live until 3 p.m. CT, so anyone waiting on a friend in the second or third wave, or running closer to five or six hours, can still see them come home.
The Marathon Handbook Watch-Along
We are running our own live watch-along on the Marathon Handbook YouTube channel, starting at about 7 a.m. CT, half an hour before the professional start. The show follows the men’s and women’s elite races as they unfold with live commentary, so it works as a second screen next to the NBC broadcast or as a way to follow the race on its own, wherever you are watching from.
Listening on the Radio
Sports Radio 104.3 The Score has the race from 7 to 11 a.m. CT, and the same broadcast runs on 670 AM, the Audacy app and SiriusXM. Josh Liss hosts, with Josh Cox, Jenny Spangler, Karen Lesiewicz and Chris Wehrman alongside him. It is a good option for anyone moving between viewing spots on race morning, earbuds in.
Watching From Outside the U.S.
The race has international rights partners on most continents: ESPN Brazil and ESPN Latin America, Eurosport and Eurosport India, FloSports, the Olympic Channel, SMG China and TV Asahi in Japan. Coverage and times vary by country, so check the local listings for each service. In Europe the start lands in the early afternoon, and in Japan and Australia it is an evening race.
How to Track a Runner
The free Bank of America Chicago Marathon app, built by Tata Consultancy Services, tracks every runner and walker in real time with no limit on how many you follow. It also carries the course map and the race week schedule, so download it and add your runners before Sunday morning rather than on a crowded phone network in Grant Park.
The tracking is just as useful for spectators planning a route. Take your runner’s projected pace, work out roughly when they should reach each mile, and use the live splits on race morning to decide whether to stay put or move on to the next spot.
Where to Watch on the Course
Watching the race is free anywhere along the 26.2 miles, and the organizers set up several official cheer zones:
- Bank of America Shamrock Shuffle Cheer Zone: around the 8K mark in Lincoln Park
- Bank of America Cheer Zone: mile 13, on North Wacker Drive in front of the Bank of America Tower
- Bank of America Chicago 13.1 Cheer Zone: the halfway point, on the West Side
- Charity Block Party: mile 15, at Adams Street and Loomis Street near Whitney Young High School
- Bank of America Cheer Zone: mile 26, at Michigan Avenue and Roosevelt Road, with the finish a few hundred meters away
The neighborhoods put on their own show too. Northalsted holds a block party with drag queens between miles 7 and 9, mariachi bands play in Pilsen around mile 19, and lion dancers perform in Chinatown near mile 21, NBC Chicago reports. Run clubs and community groups also host their own cheer zones along the course.
Because the course loops north, west and south out of the Loop and back, a spectator on the CTA can catch the same runner several times. The downtown stretch is the easiest place to start, since the course passes near Grand on the Red Line at miles 1, 3 and again around 12.5. From there, the Brown Line to Sedgwick puts you near mile 11, the Blue Line to UIC-Halsted covers the West Side at miles 14 and 17, the Pink Line to 18th drops you in Pilsen around mile 19, and the Red Line to Cermak-Chinatown is close to mile 21.5. Sox-35th on the Red Line and 35th-Bronzeville-IIT on the Green Line both sit near mile 23, and Roosevelt (Red, Green and Orange) is the stop for the finish area. The mile markers are approximate, based on where the stations sat relative to the 2024 course.
The Finish Line
Spectators cannot get into the start or finish areas in Grant Park on race day. The one paid option, the Finish Line Viewing Area along Columbus Drive, is already sold out. Tickets were $30, with children 8 and under free.
For everyone else, the best place to see the finish is the mile 26 cheer zone at Michigan Avenue and Roosevelt Road, where runners turn off Michigan Avenue for the final few hundred meters into Grant Park. Grant Park opens to spectators at 9:30 a.m., and the 27th Mile Post-Race Party at Butler Field (Columbus Drive and Jackson Drive) is the official place to meet your runner after they finish. It runs until 4 p.m.
Getting Around on Race Day
Course streets close at 6 a.m. and reopen in stages as the back of the field passes, with the last streets on the South and West Sides opening between 2:30 and 4:30 p.m. Parking restrictions on the course start at 1 a.m., and towed cars can be tracked down at 312-744-4444. DuSable Lake Shore Drive and the Dan Ryan Expressway stay open in both directions.
Public transit is the easiest way to move around. Buy CTA fares on a Ventra card, the Ventra app or a contactless bank card before race morning to skip the machine lines. Metra sells weekend day passes in the Ventra app for $7 for one day or $10 for both weekend days, and the South Shore Line runs into Chicago from Indiana. Divvy runs a free bike valet on Michigan Avenue in the Loop from 4 a.m. to 4 p.m., and rideshare drop-offs are west of Michigan Avenue and south of Ida B. Wells Drive.
Spectator Rules
The course itself, curb to curb, is for runners only. Spectators are asked not to step into the street, not to chalk or put decals on the road surface, not to fire confetti cannons, and not to hand food or drinks to runners.
Weather for Spectators
The forecasts point to a warm weekend. The National Weather Service has sunshine on Friday and Saturday with highs of 65 F and 69 F, and AccuWeather has clouds building on race day with a low of 61 F and a high of 70 F. Spectators following a runner for five or six hours will be out through the warmest part of the day, so dress for warmth and bring water. Our full race guide has more on the forecast, the course and the elite fields, and our Chicago race guide collects the rest of our coverage.
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