Ryan Snook The week before the 2025 Chicago Marathon , I called my coach to discuss the race. But we weren’t talking about the upcoming event—we were deliberating whether I should apply to run the 2026 race. Chicago opens its next-year registration period about a week after the current race, and it stays open for a month. That means marathoners have to plan a year ahead. Who knows if I will be fit next October? An untimely injury or sickness could throw a wrench in my training block, and the race doesn’t offer refunds. But that’s the reality if you want to participate in large road races, especially ones like the World Marathon Majors . So, I ponied up the $133 fee for the high-performance section and started looking for hotels in downtown Chicago. There are understandable reasons for encouraging (or mandating) runners to sign up well ahead of time. Cities, such as Chicago, need to plan logistics months in advance—lining up volunteers and police, ordering thousands of T-shirts and medals, etc.…