Chicago Is Hosting Free 5Ks to Help Underserved Communities Fall in Love With Running – runnersworld.com

Most race directors choose locations based in part on where the most runners will show up. But when the Chicago Area Runners Association (CARA) worked with the Chicago Park District to launch weekly free, timed 1-mile and 5K runs called ‘Go Runs, they had an alternative mission: head where the runners weren’t.

That meant steering clear of Chicago’s Lakefront Trail—the 18 miles of uninterrupted path on the city’s east border that already hosts heaps of running events—and choosing lesser-used parks in neighborhoods on the south, west, and far north sides of the city.

After all, a main objective of the program is to increase opportunities for running in underserved areas. That could mean disadvantaged in the traditional socioeconomic sense, or simply overlooked by existing running groups and races, said Greg Hipp, CARA’s executive director.

“Grassroots running was a big part of Chicago running history, but it had kind of fallen to the wayside for a long time, just because of the success of the major events,” Hipp told Runner’s World. “I think our purpose is to be where running needs us and not just to be where we can profit the most off running.”

Bringing the Races Where the Runners Are Not

Since the program’s launch in 2015, more than 10,000 Chicagoans have crossed a ‘Go Run finish line. As the program heads into its fourth year, it’s expanded from three eight-week seasons to a year-round schedule. Organizers have also added a few new parks and are rotating between them in hopes of bringing an entirely new crowd to the sport.

Most finishers have come from within a four-block radius of each host park, Hipp said. To get the word out, CARA has used recruiting methods reminiscent of community organizing, from posting flyers to knocking on doors to recruiting neighborhood and school groups to volunteer.

The techniques have attracted athletes like Patrick La Riviere, 47, who lives in the Hyde Park neighborhood, on the city’s South Side. He’d run sporadically, but had never completed a timed race. Then he saw a post about ‘Go Runs in nearby Washington Park on his Twitter feed.

One aspect that caught his attention: Unlike some larger or paid races, jogging strollers were welcome. That meant he could sometimes bring his daughter Rose, who’s 6 and has a developmental disability, along for the ride. “She beats me every week we run together,” he joked.

La Riviere doesn’t consider himself a competitive person, but found in ‘Go Runs motivation for self-improvement. “Having that number to look at every week and thinking about, ‘Oh, what would it take to make it a little bit smaller as the weeks go on,’ led me to start reading more about what a training routine might look like,” he said.

He began regularly logging five runs a week—including a Tuesday speed workout and a longer Sunday jog with Rose—and improved his finishing time from around 25 minutes in summer 2017 to 21:30 (sans stroller) by the end of 2018.

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Josh Koonce, 35, was already regularly running three miles runs through Humboldt Park, near his home on the city’s West Side. But he’d also never signed up for a race before he saw the signs for ‘Go Runs in the summer of 2017. Having other runners to chase fueled him, he said, and he shaved more than 4 minutes off his time, from 29 minutes to a 24:37 the following spring. A few months later, in September of 2018, he also ran his first paid race, the Lawndale 5K.

Making Running a Community Affair

It’s not only the accomplishment, but also the community that keeps Koonce coming back. He’s connected with many in his neighborhood, including a man who appears decades older but regularly finishes just seconds behind him. And he once watched a man show up with his teenage daughters—the girls wore regular running gear, but the dad completed the entire 5K in a suit and business shoes, Koonce said.

That open, anything-goes community feel is just what organizers hope for, Hipp said. CARA modeled ‘Go Runs on the parkrun program in the U.K. and aimed to reduce as many barriers and expenses as possible. “One of our taglines is ‘Race, run, jog, walk, volunteer,’ just trying to show that it’s really inclusive to all,” he said. “We just want you to be there and experience running.”

Runners only have to register once for the year and are assigned a single bib number. To reduce the need for stacks of pre-printed bibs, each park is stocked with blank bibs and Sharpies, which runners use to write in their numbers. On the back of each is ‘Go Run Bingo!—a list of experiences, from volunteering to bringing a friend to running without stopping or clocking a personal best. Participants can get up to one square stamped at each race to win T-shirts and other prizes.

That’s also a new development this season, and one of a few changes as the program continues. At first, ‘Go Runs were chip timed. But not only was the system relatively expensive to maintain, new racers didn’t always know how to use chips properly, Hipp said. They might stick them in their shoe under their sock or beneath three layers on a cold day, too buried to connect to the timing mats.

Now, ‘Go Runs are timed high-school cross-country style—by volunteers logging bib numbers in an app called Webscorer, with results still posted online to track and compare.

Each event is led by a relatively lean volunteer operation. The whole thing, from course marking to timing, can be pulled off by about five people, Hipp said. Athletes can even sign up to help set up, then run the race.

That’s an aspect that appeals to Lovie Twine, 48, who has volunteered herself and also brought her six children, all of whom need service hours for school. “You put the water out, you put up the mile markers. You get a chance to see behind the scenes,” she said. “This is a good experience, especially for someone new who really wants to learn about running.”

Courtesy of CARA

Twine isn’t a newcomer—she’d been running and participating in CARA training groups for several years, since around her 40th birthday. She’s lived in the city’s Austin neighborhood, minutes from Humboldt Park, for four decades.

Now that the runs roam from park to park, Twine still attends, making a point to invite friends who reside in the surrounding neighborhoods even if they’re not already involved in the sport. “You don’t have to go downtown on the Lakefront or go really outside your neighborhood; you can actually enjoy your own park and get some great miles in,” she said. She tells them it’s a test run—no pressure—and grins when they ask her how much it costs: “That’s the kicker—it’s free!”

It’s through this type of engagement that ‘Go Runs can act as a pipeline for the city’s larger running community, Hipp said. After all, the sport may not thrive if events only cluster in existing running hotspots. “In the long view, this is a way to make sure running has a long, healthy life in Chicago,” he said.

What’s more, it may expand runners’ influence outward. “The Park District has proven in many cases, if people want to use it, they’ll take care of it,” Hipp said. The more runners in the parks, the more likely they are to maintain paths and facilities—in short, to better serve the entire community.