April Adventure Run Chicago

The Adventure Run reminds me of when I first moved to Chicago last year. I didn’t know anyone but I told myself I had to put myself out there. I signed up for my first Adventure Run last April without having anyone to go with, and I ended up making some friends. Of course, they didn’t immediately become friends, but the seeds were planted.

This year, I ended up doing the April Adventure Run alone again. My friend texted me that she was held up at work and wasn’t going to make it, and I didn’t see any other group run members there. But within a few minutes, after making my way around the six vendor tables, I smiled at a woman standing next to me, and she introduced herself. She ended up becoming my unofficial running partner; she’d come alone as well. It was nice to have someone to run and chat with, and she stayed in the back of the pack with me. (I tend to be in the back of group runs because I am not the world’s fastest runner.)

What is the Adventure Run?

The Adventure Run is a fun run during which you check in at various retailers around the neighborhood to get raffle tickets. You have an hour to go to as many of the locations as possible. A map is revealed at 6:30 p.m. exactly and everyone makes a mad dash to all the stops. Some vendors ask you to do burpees or pushups or some other task for extra tickets. You must be back at Road Runner Sports by 7:30, when the raffle begins.

Instead of following the map, I ran with a volunteer. It’s much easier, but she’s a quick runner. We made it to all checkpoints: My Fit Foods, Massage Envy, Sully’s, IO Chicago, Vitamin Shoppe, and a couple of restaurants. The area is starting to become more familiar to me now, which is a relief, though I still don’t know the street names. If you’re new to Chicago, the Adventure Run is a great way to learn about local businesses.

The vendors included Spartan Race, Ragnar Relay, Honey Stinger and Adidas.

I didn’t have as many tickets after this run, likely because I didn’t buy the Adventure Run T-Shirt, which gets you extra tickets at each stop. Thus, I didn’t win, but I still had a good time and got a 2.5-mile run in while doing it.