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The UX of a big city marathon
How the organizers of the Chicago Marathon successfully ferried pedestrians across the course during the race
Organizing and executing a successful marathon in a large city like Chicago is not an easy task. Planning starts the day after the previous year’s marathon and continues for a full year; right up to the day of the race. There is a seemingly endless list of factors to consider:
- street closings
- paid personnel
- volunteers
- registering runners
- race bag pick up locations
- pedestrians and traffic
- etc.
The event organizers work with the city to plan a day-long race that covers 26.2 miles over 29 neighborhoods and includes miles of street closings manned by police officers, private security workers, and volunteers. And this doesn’t even account for the roughly 25,000–30,000 runners that show up to run on race day.
A Bird’s Eye View
The user experience observations I am about to detail below were all made from the 13th floor of my building at the corner of 13th Street and Michigan Avenue in the Museum Campus neighborhood of Chicago. This area is just southeast…
