My fiancee and I stayed at Eric's home for 3 nights over the Chicago Marathon/Columbus Day weekend. Eric was a welcoming and gracious host and went above and beyond with his hospitality. From dropping us off at the starting line and recommending a delicious post-race restaurant near the house (and offering to drive our weary selves there), to allowing us to use the washing machine to clean our sweaty race gear and making sure we have a fresh pot of coffee waiting each morning, he was the epitome of generous and kind.

Two things of note:
1.) When we made our booking we selected this location as “Entire Home,” which AirBnB describes as full use of the home without our host present. This was not the case, as Eric was staying in a 3rd bedroom (though as mentioned, very helpful) along with another, non-AirBnB guest who stayed in the second room we ended up not using. We were certainly able to be flexible, though we were initially rather shocked to realize what we thought was an “Entire Home” booking really ended up being a “Private Room” reservation. We had pretty free range of the house, but guests should endeavor to be clear with Eric whether or not he will be staying with you and if another guest (or guests) will be in the house simultaneously.
2.) As others have mentioned, the Metra--with an “a,” not a typo--station is 3 blocks away and an easy walk, though it only departs once an hour during the week and every 2 hours on the weekend, arriving downtown within 40 minutes. The CTA is quite a distance further, about a ¼ mile walk to the bus, a 3 mile bus ride to the final stop on the Red Line. We were able to reserve Uber cars within 7-10 minutes around the neighborhood, but something to be aware of when calculating travel time and transportation costs for your stay.

Ultimately, the home was a lovely, quiet place to stay in the midst of a whirlwind trip for our race and Eric was a great local connection to have to make our trip fun and welcoming.