Photos
Check out photos from other events on our Flickr page!
Videos
2024 Program Impact
2023 Spring Fun Run Highlight
2023 Program Impact
2022 Little Steps, Big Stars Video
2021 Inclusivity in Sport Panel
Chicago Run believes that ‘everyone is a runner’ and that physical activity should be accessible to young people of all identities and abilities. The need for our work – providing equitable access to inclusive running and physical activity programming – stems from pre-existing inequities in Chicago communities, resulting from institutional barriers and systemic disinvestment, particularly in communities of color. As we seek to understand and dismantle inequities around access to resources for healthy development, including sport accessibility, we must be committed to centering equity across all facets of our work, and actively working toward a Chicago in which opportunities for physical activity and play are available to every young person.
We're so grateful to the incredible panelists who joined us to increase visibility around this topic in our first ever virtual panel discussion on Inclusivity in Sport. Thank you to Jen Dixon, Patti Flynn, Ian Gonzalez, Larke Johnson, and to Alicia Gonzalez for moderating. We're so glad we could be joined by Chicago Run youth participants, partner organizations, funders, running community members, and our supporters who engaged in this meaningful discussion on the importance of accessibility and inclusion in physical activity.
2020 Little Steps, Big Stars Gala Video
October 30, 2020
Chicago Run's 12th annual, 1st virtual, Little Steps, Big Stars gala week celebration looked a little different this year. But during a year of cancelled events and new challenges, the needs of our youth are greater than ever. We know that running and physical activity are critical to the physical and mental health of our communities. Chicago Run feels extremely grateful for all the support and engagement from our community during these challenging times.
2019 Nike - Chicago Style
November 1, 2019
Nike social media campaign featuring Chicago Run Junior Coach Celeste Pedrosa.
2019 Little Steps, Big Stars Video
May 3, 2019
Chicago Run’s 11th annual Little Steps, Big Stars gala was held at Galleria Marchetti with nearly 350 Chicago Run supporters who enjoyed dinner, a signature drink, dancing, silent auction and raffle prizes, and a speaking program with a video featuring Celeste Pedroza. Celeste has been in Chicago Run programs since she was in 4th grade. Now a sophomore in high school, she is one of our summer Junior Coaches and a member of our LACE Up alumni program. She loves being a leader to her younger peers and sharing her running experience with her family. Chicago Run has built her confidence and opened her eyes to new areas of Chicago and broadened her appreciation of our vibrant city.
2018 Nike "Just Do It" Marketing Campaign
July 16, 2018
To celebrate the 30th anniversary of their "Just Do It" slogan, Nike released this inspiring video featuring LACE Up participant and Chicago Run Junior Coach Martin Garcia. Martin's "crazy dream" is to one day be an Olympic runner. Chicago Run and Nike are proud to support the dreams of all Chicago youth, no matter how big or small. We are so grateful for the years of support from Nike, helping us expand our programs to impact more youth across Chicagoland.
2018 Chicago Run 10th Anniversary Gala Event Recap Video
May 11, 2018
Chicago Run's 10th Anniversary Little Steps, Big Stars Gala was a record breaking event! Nearly 600 Chicago Run supporters gathered together to celebrate the past 10 years of our youth running programs and toast to our continued growth. Our fantastic network of supporters helped us surpass our fundraising goal for the event by almost DOUBLE! This support means so much to us as we continue expanding our programs to new sites and serve the many youth on our waiting lists. Congratulations to our Go the Distance Award winners: Bank of America, accepted by Market President and Chicago Run Board Member, Paul Lambert, and Dr. Janice Jackson, CEO of Chicago Public Schools.
Thank you to Stephen Sukowaty for capturing this great video of the event!
2018 Chicago Run 10th Anniversary Gala Program Video
May 11, 2018
Chicago Run's 10th Anniversary Gala was a record breaking event! Nearly 600 Chicago Run supporters gathered together to celebrate the past 10 years of our youth running programs and toast to our continued growth. Our fantastic network of supporters helped us surpass our fundraising goal for the event by almost DOUBLE, raising more than $450,000! This support means so much to us as we continue expanding our programs to new sites and serve the many youth on our waiting lists. Congratulations to our Go the Distance Award winners: Bank of America, accepted by Market President and Chicago Run Board Member, Paul Lambert, and Dr. Janice Jackson, CEO of Chicago Public Schools. This was a bittersweet event as we said goodbye to Founding Executive Director Alicia Gonzalez. We wish her luck on her future endeavors and looks forward to the continued growth of Chicago Run!
2017 Team Chicago Run
October 8, 2017
Chicago Run students say "thank you and good luck" to the 66 runners on Team Chicago Run! Runners on Chicago Run's 2017 marathon charity team trained all summer for this iconic race of a lifetime while raising critical dollars for Chicago Run students. We are so grateful for all their hard work raising funds and awareness! Chicago Run is also grateful to the 300+ students, volunteers, and staff who helped organize the Mile 20 Aid Station, handing out water, Gatorade, and bananas to all 45,000 marathon runners at the Bank of America Chicago Marathon.
Rise Chicago Nike Video
October 5, 2017
This awesome video was made by Nike Chicago as part of their 2017 Bank of America Chicago Marathon campain. Chicago Run youth had the amazing opportunity to be included in this "love letter" to Chicago. Nike coaches joined Chicago Run at the Running Mates Fall Field trip on September 28, 2017. They also invited some of our students to a shake out run before the Chicago Marathon where they got to meet Olympian Evan Jager. Chicago Run is so grateful for support from Nike and their belief in the power of sport to unite our amazing city.
Little Village Summer Program - Lung Run 5k
August 27, 2017
Chicago Run's Little Village Summer Program students trained all summer for the Lung Run 5k on August 27, 2017. This video was filmed by a youth media organization, called Community TV Network, who joined us to capture photos and videos for the Safe and Peaceful Communities Fund on behalf of The Chicago Community Trust.
Thank you to The Chicago Community Trust for supporting Chicago Run programs and for investing in Safe & Peaceful Communities!
2017 Little Steps, Big Stars Event Recap Video
May 17, 2017
On Wednesday May 17th, 2017, we were joined by 400 new and old friends at Galleria Marchetti to celebrate Chicago Run and our work utilizing sport for health and youth development in ChicagoPublic Schools! We would like to congratulate our Go the Distance Award winners, TransUnion and City Treasurer, Kurt Summers for advocating on behalf of Chicago Run. It was truly a special night because of the incredible generosity and support in the room.
Thank you to all our sponsors, in kind supporters, and all our attendees for joining us at the event to support Chicago Run's programs the help Chicago children and youth get healthy and active. Together we can help ensure that each student has the opportunity to get to the Start Line!
Giving Tuesday 2016
November 29, 2016
On November 29, Chicago Run staff conducted a running based fundraising event for #GivingTuesday, a global day of giving. The event, called 25K for $5k, consisted of our staff running a 25K relay between several Chicago Run schools. We asked our donors to try and raise $5k in the time it took for our staff members to complete their run. We were so pleased with the responses we got from our donors; we heard from so many great new donors & a lot of amazing returning donors, Next Generation Board & Main Board members, and several teachers & students who joined in the event. We are so excited that we surpassed our goal of raising $5,000, and we couldn't have done it without our amazing supporters! These videos were posted on our social media pages leading up to Giving Tuesday and feature members of the Chicago Run family explaining what Chicago Run means to them.
Day 1 - What Does Chicago Run Meant to Me?
Our first video gearing up for #GivingTuesday features Christian Urena. Christian was apart of our Running Mates program 7 years ago and is currently a L.A.C.E. Up! program participant.
Day 2 – What does Chicago Run Mean to Me?
Our second video gearing up for #GivingTuesday features Fred Williams. Fred is the principal at Chopin Elementary School, which has partnered with Chicago Run for over 4 years. Hear his story about what Chicago Run has done for his school.
Day 3 – What does Chicago Run Mean to Me?
Our third video gearing up for #GivingTuesday features Daniel Rohan. Dan is a staff member at Dirksen Elementary, which has partnered with Chicago Run for 3 years. Hear his story about the impact Chicago Run has had on his school.
Day 4 – What does Chicago Run Mean to Me?
Our fourth video gearing up for #GivingTuesday features two Chicago Run students. London is a pre-k student in our new Little Strides program at Jackie Robinson and Karina is a 6th grade student in our Running Mates program at Sawyer Elementary. Hear them talk about what Chicago Run means to them.
2016 Team Chicago Run: We Run As One Video
October 7, 2016
Chicago Run students, families, volunteers, and staff cheered on all 45,000 runners and especially our charity runners as they raced in the 2016 Bank of America Chicago Marathon! A big thank you to all of our charity runners for your hard work training and fundraising for Chicago Run programs. We are so proud and grateful that you chose to use your passion for running to benefit the 17,000 students in our programs.
To donate to one of our 2016 charity runners, check out our Crowdrise Donation Page!
2016 Little Steps, Big Stars Video
May 12, 2016
This year's 8th annual Little Steps, Big Stars fundraiser was our biggest reception to date with over 350 guests joining together to celebrate another year of successful Chicago Run programming, enjoy great food, and for the chance to win some fantastic silent auction items. This year, we were thrilled to honor Arne and Karen Duncan, and Marsha Cruzan of U.S. Bank with the Go the Distance Awards, honoring their dedication to healthy kids and strong communities. We also featured this newest Chicago Run video, highlighting our program participants and their stories.
2015 Fall Fun Run Video
November 7, 2015
On November 7th, Chicago Run students, families, and school staff celebrated the start of another healthy school year with a 1-mile Fun Run in Washington Park! We had beautiful weather for this fun filled morning which continues to be one of the most successful events we have all year. We were joined by Monique Bailey & the Skyy Level Fitness Group, City of Chicago Treasurer Kurt Summers, cadet Diego Perez from the CPS Air Force Academy, Loyola University mascot LU the Wolf, and Chicago Run's own mascots the Orange People. Thank you to Chicago Public Schools, Nike, Chicago Parks District, Aramark, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois, Transunion, and all 150 volunteers for making this event possible.
2015 Team Chicago run: We Run As One Video
October 11, 2015
Chicago Run students, families, volunteers, and staff cheered on our 80 charity runners as they raced in the 2015 Bank of America Chicago Marathon! A big thank you to all of our charity runners for your hard work training and fundraising. We are so proud and grateful that you chose to use your passion for running to benefit the 17,000 students in our programs.
2015 Little Steps Big Stars Fundraiser Video
May 7, 2015
Premiering at the Chicago Run 7th Annual Little Steps Big Stars Fundraiser, this video tells stories from some Chicago Run volunteers, runners, and their families about their experience with Chicago Run programs. Thank you for supporting Chicago Run and inspiring more children to get on the fast track towards health and fitness.
2014 Fall Fun Run Video
May 8, 2015
Over 3,000 Chicago Run participants gathered in Washington Park for our annual Fall Fun Run! The event united students and family members from 42 schools in 32 unique communities across the city. Participants spent their morning dancing to Zumba workouts, running a mile around the park, and eating healthy snacks! We were so lucky to have the Tonti Elementary Band, Chicago Sky's Sky Guy, Kymberlee & the Flyy Girl Dance crew, Monique & the Sky Level Group, and Chicago Run's own mascot, the "Orange Man", join us in our celebration of health and fitness. The event would not have been possible without our dedicated volunteers, site coordinators, and Chicago Run staff. A huge thank you to the Chicago Park District, CPS, Walgreens, and Pretzel Crisps for their support and sponsorship. Thank you to Kevin Hartmann and Haley Meadow for photographing!
2014 Team Chicago Run: Inspired to Run Video
October 12, 2014
All of Chicago Run cheered on our charity runners as they raced in the 2014 Bank of America Chicago Marathon! We are so grateful for all the hard work our charity runners put into training and fundraising. Thank you for sharing your passion for running with the students in our programs.
2014 Spring Fun Run
May 31, 2014
Thanks to the thousands of students, teachers, parents, and volunteers who came together in Washington Park on a beautiful spring morning for our 2014 Fun Run! We couldn't have been happier with the day, which wouldn't have been half of what it was without your support!
2014 Bryan Traubert Tribute Video
At this year's annual Little Steps Big Stars fundraiser, Chicago Run honored Bryan Traubert, Co-Founder of Chicago Run, with the Go the Distance Award for this leadership and service as he stepped down as Chairman of the Board. In this tribute video, hear student runners, Chicago Run board members, Rahm Emanuel, and Bryan's family speak about how much Chicago Run and his hard work means to them.
2014 An Evening of Little Steps Big Stars
May 15, 2014
This "We are Chicago Run" video premiered at the 6th annual Little Steps, Big Stars fundraiser. Thank you to all the supporters and sponsors for making this an exciting and successful evening! With everyone's support, more Chicago children will have the opportunity to participate in Chicago Run programs at their schools.
Watch Chicago Run in Action
March 21, 2014
Watch Chicago Run in action and see what our students have to say about running and exercise!
2013 Fall Fun Run
November 2, 2013
A huge thank you to all the students, teachers, families, sponsors, Washington Park, and volunteers for creating another AWESOME FUN RUN. Despite being a little cloudy, it was a great day to go for a 1-mile run!
Interested in coming to our future Fun Runs? Consider coming as a volunteer!
2014 Team Chicago Run
October 11, 2013
Two days before the Bank of America Chicago Marathon, Team Chicago Run chows down on a pasta feast (a HUGE thank you to GoRoma!) to get ready for the upcoming race day. Aside from sharing dinner, racers also conversed about why they joined the team and why fundraising was so important to them. Additionally we showed the "Together, We Run as One" video to get the team inspired and excited for Sunday!