24 km from South Chicago to the North and back
Before a busy day of meetings, I got up early and did a beautiful run along the Chicago waterfront and the Chicago Riverwalk.
Length: | 24 km |
Elevation: | 72 m |
Route type: | Loop |
Pavement: | Road |
How to get there: | Car, or you are staying in one of the conference hotels next to the McCormick Place convention center. |
How to shorten/extend run: | Shorten: You can turn around at any point, or leave out the part on the Chicago river or towards the end leave out the 4 km "detour" on the Northerly Island. Extent: You could go further north on the Lakefront Trail. |
This run had pretty much everything, from sunrise to rain showers and from sandy beaches to skyscrapers. I got up early and ran from the McCormick convention center to Soldier Field and Burnham Harbor, where I got onto the Lakefront trail. The trail follows the shoreline from south of Chicago all the way to the far north. I stayed on the trail for a few kilometers and got off at Navy Pier for a detour around the pier. I got back onto the trail and followed it to Oak Street beach, where I took the underpass and got onto Michigan Ave, also known as the Magnificent Mile. I ran it back south, which at 7 in the morning is actually doable without running into too many pedestrians. I took a right hand turn at the Chicago river and ran the Chicago RiverWalk for a few kilometers until getting off at West Jackson Blvd and following it to Millennium Park. I then turned south again and did a quick tour of the Northerly Island Habitat Development Project.