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Neighborhood Guides

Get to Know Chi on the Run

Posted on January 18, 2023 | Updated on September 30, 2025

Sidney Madden

Hebru Brantley's 'Nike Running' mural in Wicker Park, illustrates four children running

Hebru Brantley's 'Nike Running' mural in Wicker Park in 2019. (Raymond Boyd / Getty)

Whether your new year’s resolution was to explore more neighborhoods, get outside, or be more active, this reading-running group could help you accomplish all the above — with others or by yourself.

Read & Run Chicago invites you to jog along routes inspired by Chicago books. The run is capped off with a book discussion at a local business.

Mini neighborhood runs are inspired by “The Chicago Neighborhood Guidebook,” an anthology of poems, essays, and short stories.

You can take yourself on self-guided tours, too. The routes for 10 neighborhoods from West Ridge to Pullman have been published, including post-run spots for bites and drinks.

And if you’re not big on cardio — same — these runs are no longer than two miles.

Read & Run also hosts longer book club runs based on Chicago novels, memoirs, and nonfiction books like this weekend’s “Chicago Scavenger Hunt”–inspired running tour and next month’s “Three Girls From Bronzeville” run.

The city’s running group scene is big. Check out other neighborhood groups like GumboFit, Peace Runners, and so many more.

see more:outdoor activities,education

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