Ridge Run 5K/Photo: Zach Freeman

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Breakdown: This morning’s race in Beverly’s Ridge Park marked thirty-six years for the Ridge Run, Chicago’s oldest 10K event. And for a Chicago transplant who has probably spent only a few hours south of 60th Street in the past five years, the Southwest Side neighborhood of Beverly (also known as Beverly Hills, I’m told) sounded like a distant and mysterious suburban land until I ran through its streets this morning (twice).

See, the Ridge Run has a unique (as far as I know) option for racers. while many races provide more than one distance option at their event, the Ridge Run offers a 10K at 8am followed by a 5K at 9:30, and gives runners the option of registering and running both distances in a single morning (it’s called the Ridge Run Challenge, and I highly recommend it).

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Photo: Brian Hieggelke

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Breakdown: A “Superfan” of Da Bears fantasy; in fact, so many Superfan types were in the race I half expected to see someone chowing on an Italian sausage-and-beef combo while running the course. With 17,500 runners, congestion is an occasional problem except when running on Lake Shore Drive, and the wave start is a welcome component, but those of us in the last corrals did not start till nearly a half hour after our appointed starting time. But that minor quibble is more than offset by a beautiful course culminating in one of the most singular finish lines anywhere, a highly organized operation, and a better-than-average after-party featuring the still-running alt rockers Soul Asylum. I biked over, since the starting line is a mile or so south of the “usual” Grant Park spots, and that proved to be the perfect way to get there and back quickly and easily. Read the rest of this entry »

By Nick Drnaso. Edited by Ivan Brunetti. (Click on image to enlarge.)

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Illustration: Tony Fitzpatrick

By Tony Fitzpatrick

In the canon of American literature of the last century, Nathanael West figures in a couple of times.

“Miss Lonelyhearts” is considered his signature work,  a novel of isolation and animal longing. My favorite has always been “The Day of the Locust,” which ends with Hollywood burning to the ground amidst a savage mob running amok and devouring all who would try and halt it. It was made into a movie starring Donald Sutherland, William Atherton and Karen Black. “The Day of the Locust” has it all: artists, wannabe starlets, midgets, cockfights, cowboys, darkness, hunger and desperation. Read the rest of this entry »

Bike rush hour on Milwaukee, torn up for repaving/Photo: John Greenfield

By John Greenfield

Trust me, my friends, this is the year sustainable transportation blows up in Chicago. Say what you want about Rahm Emanuel’s record on education, crime and privatization. But since he took office in early 2011, joined by forward-thinking Transportation Commissioner Gabe Klein and shrewd CTA President Forrest Claypool, the city has embarked on a number of bold projects to encourage walking, biking and transit use. I promise the next three months are going to be a tipping point as we make the move from the car-centric status quo to becoming a healthier, more efficient and more vibrant city. Read the rest of this entry »

By Rob Brezsny

ARIES (March 21-April 19): “I’m still learning,” said Michelangelo when he was eighty-seven years old. For now, he’s your patron saint. With his unflagging curiosity as your inspiration, maybe your hunger for new teachings will bloom. You will register the fact that you don’t already know everything there is to know… you have not yet acquired all the skills you were born to master… you’re still in the early stages of exploring whole swaths of experience that will be important to you as you become the person you want to be. Even if you’re not enrolled in a formal school, it’s time to take your education to the next level. Read the rest of this entry »

Chicago Spring Half post-race party/Photo: Zach Freeman

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Breakdown:  Unlike the gusting winds and rain of the 2012 race, this year’s Chicago Spring Half Marathon & 10K (newly christened the Magellan Development Chicago Spring  Half, for shorthand) offered runners a warm spring morning in the mid-seventies with sunny skies and a light breeze. The course remained the same, with both races starting in DuSable Harbor, following the Lakefront Trail out and back and finishing in The Park at Lakeshore East.

And though the nicer weather was a welcome change for runners of this year’s event, it also meant that there were a lot more non-participants enjoying a stroll, run or bike ride on the (unclosed) Lakefront Trail to contend with. Still, mile-markers were clearly placed and volunteers were readily available with plenty of water and Gatorade. The placement of the starting line does make for a more easily manageable start, but it also leads to a bit of confusion as runners pass back through the starting track on their way to the finish line (which is about a third of a mile further).

It’s the post-race party in The Park at Lakeshore East that makes this event worth the price. It also makes it abundantly clear why Magellan Development Group (creators of Lakeshore East) is eager to host this event: it highlights the manicured beauty of their planned community, with runners being granted tickets to a well-stocked “picnic” (featuring eggs, pancakes, sausage and coconut water) in the park amidst the many sponsor booths. Read the rest of this entry »

Illustration: Tony Fitzpatrick

By Tony Fitzpatrick

Driving back from California through the desert, one is always cognizant of the hungry world that surrounds you. The desert may seem still, but beyond what you can see it is teeming with life: coyotes, owls, hawks, vultures and some genuinely scary-ass reptiles, thick western diamondbacks, prairie rattlers, gila monsters and sidewinders.

There are small boars called javelinas—ugly little fuckers who love-you-not. There are roadrunners who tear along the desert until they find a lizard to peck to death and devour. They are psycho-looking sons-of-bitches who remind us that for all of the cute photos of baby seals and shit like that, that nature is around-the-clock murder. Look into the eye of one of these ground-dwelling birds and one sees all of the madness in the world. Read the rest of this entry »

Danny Resner by the decorative spire at Ashland/63rd/Photo: John Greenfield

By John Greenfield

On Saturday, National Train Day, my El-racing brother-in-arms Danny Resner and I tried to write a new chapter in the saga of competitive CTA riding. The rules are simple: you must stop at and/or depart from every station by train, although it’s not necessary to ride every inch of track, and you can only travel by El, bus or shoe leather.

Several people, including Danny and me, have worn the CTA racing crown at various times. In October, ad men Chris Aubin and Garrett Sorrels set the current record for 145 stations: 9:12:39. We hoped to snag the title before the five-month shutdown of the south Red Line for a $425 million track rehab and station enhancement project, which starts this Sunday. Here’s how our day went down:

10am We begin our journey in Wilmette at the Purple Line’s Linden station, a stone’s throw from the Bahá’í temple. Last week a seven-month, $2 million slow-zone-elimination project started on the line north of Howard and we see yellow construction vehicles parked along the track as we roll south. Just before we reach Howard to transfer to the Yellow Line there’s an excruciating twenty-minute delay. Read the rest of this entry »

By  Rob Brezsny

ARIES (March 21-April 19): In the alternate universe created by Marvel comic books, there is a mutant superhero called Squirrel Girl. She has the magic power to summon hordes of cute, furry squirrels. Under her guidance, they swarm all over the bad guy she’s battling and disable him with their thousands of tiny chomps and thrashing tails. She and her rodent allies have defeated such arch-villains as Dr. Doom, Deadpool, Baron Mordo and Ego the Living Planet. Let’s make her your role model for the coming weeks, Aries. The cumulative force of many small things will be the key to your victories. As in Squirrel Girl’s case, your adversaries’ overconfidence may also be a factor. Read the rest of this entry »