Illinois fun runs
57 seasonal, themed and one-of-a-kind fun runs in Illinois.
Holiday and seasonal: 21 · Novelty course: 15 · Food and drink: 7 · Color, glow and night: 4 · Mud and obstacle: 4 · Iconic tradition: 2 · Costume and theme: 2 · Animals: 1 · Quirky format: 1
- Food and drink Illinois Brewery Running Series Chicago-area 5Ks that start and finish at local breweries, ending the year with a Holiday Winter Dash beer run.
- Color, glow and night Rosehill Cemetery 'Crypt' 5K Run/Walk An evening 5K on a candlelit course through Rosehill, Chicago's largest cemetery, past the graves of mayors, Oscar Mayer and John G. Shedd.
- Novelty course Tombstone 5K A pre-Halloween costume 5K run entirely through historic Mount Greenwood Cemetery on the South Side.
- Holiday and seasonal Fall Color 5K Run and Walk A shotgun-start 5K on the Morton Arboretum's wooded East Side timed for peak fall color.
- Holiday and seasonal Halloween Hustle 5K & Kids Dash A costumed suburban Halloween 5K with group, duo and kids costume categories and an after-party at a local tap house.
- Holiday and seasonal Zombie 5K & Walk Runners try to outpace ravenous zombies on a zombie-infested 5K course in small-town Peotone.
- Holiday and seasonal Haunted Halloween Half Marathon & 5km Hundreds of costumed runners race Lincoln Park and the Lakefront Trail with cash prizes for the best pre-race costumes.
- Holiday and seasonal Haunted Oak 5K A late-afternoon zombie-chase 5K across a country club golf course, with costume awards like 'Drop Dead Beauty'.
- Holiday and seasonal Hot Cider Hustle – Wheaton Wheaton’s stop on a Midwest fall race series built around hot apple cider at the finish and cold-weather fleece swag.
- Holiday and seasonal La Carrera de los Muertos / Race of the Dead 5K A Day of the Dead 5K through Pilsen's murals, with mariachis and folkloric dancers on course and decorated sugar skulls for age-group winners.
- Food and drink SKECHERS Hot Chocolate Run Chicago The original Hot Chocolate Run, held in Chicago since its founding, with a lakefront course past Soldier Field and the Field Museum and a Ghirardelli chocolate finish.
- Holiday and seasonal Jingle Bell Run – Central IL Normal’s stop on the Arthritis Foundation’s national holiday run, where teams turn out in festive costumes and jingle bells to raise money for arthritis research.
- Novelty course SkyRise Chicago Climb 105 flights (2,149 stairs) of Willis Tower and finish at Skydeck Chicago on the 103rd floor.
- Holiday and seasonal Jingle Bell Run – Western Suburbs, IL Wheaton’s stop on the Arthritis Foundation’s national holiday run, where teams turn out in festive costumes and jingle bells to raise money for arthritis research.
- Holiday and seasonal Edison Park Turkey Trot A Northwest Side neighborhood trot that grew from 500 runners in 1996 to more than 6,000 on Thanksgiving morning.
- Food and drink Elite Chocolate Turkey 3 Mile Run & 1 Mile Walk Every registrant gets a 3.5 oz solid chocolate turkey, and age-group winners take home chocolate apples, on Peoria's riverfront.
- Holiday and seasonal Life Time Turkey Trot Chicago Chicago’s 48th annual Thanksgiving morning trot at Diversey Harbor in Lincoln Park, with a costume contest and a kids race called the Plymouth Rock Ramble.
- Holiday and seasonal Naperville Noon Lions Turkey Trot 5K One of Illinois' biggest Thanksgiving trots, historically the largest in the Chicago area with 7,000+ finishers, capped with a donated breakfast.
- Holiday and seasonal North Shore Turkey Trot 5K, 10K & Kids' Trot A Thanksgiving tradition since 1978 that runs Highland Park's ravines and lakefront and ends with pie and cider.
- Iconic tradition Great River Road Run Now in its 67th year, a Thanksgiving-weekend 10-miler and 5K squeezed between the Mississippi River and limestone bluffs.
- Holiday and seasonal Lions Charities Reindeer Run 5K A downtown Wheaton holiday 5K where runners turn out in antlers, Santa hats and jingle bells.
- Holiday and seasonal Rotary Santa Run Walk & Reindeer Dash A downtown 'sea of Santas' where every 5K runner and 1-mile walker gets a full Santa suit.
- Holiday and seasonal Santa Hustle Chicago Runners dressed as Santa start and finish at Soldier Field for a lakefront holiday race.
- Costume and theme Santa Speedo Run Northalsted Hundreds of runners in Santa hats and speedos jog a mile through Northalsted in December, then party at Sidetrack.
- Holiday and seasonal Jingle Bell Run – Kankakee, IL Kankakee’s stop on the Arthritis Foundation’s national holiday run, where teams turn out in festive costumes and jingle bells to raise money for arthritis research.
- Holiday and seasonal McHenry County Santa Run For Kids Every 5K registrant gets a Santa suit or Santa race shirt for a mass-Santa run through downtown Crystal Lake.
- Costume and theme Ditka Dash Thousands of runners in issued Mike Ditka mustaches, aviators and sweater-vest shirts run a 5K at Soldier Field, some tethered together as 'Ditka-Pedes'.
- Holiday and seasonal Jingle Bell Run – Chicago, IL Chicago’s Jingle Bell Run starts from the Chicago History Museum on the edge of Lincoln Park.
- Holiday and seasonal Cheers to New Year's 5K Run/Walk A New Year's Day 5K that starts and ends at Church Street Brewing with a craft beer at the finish.
- Novelty course Hustle Chicago Stair Climb (formerly Hustle Up the Hancock) Race up 94 floors and 1,632 steps of the former Hancock Building on Michigan Avenue to the 360 CHICAGO observation deck.
- Novelty course Lakefront Loop 5K & Kids Dash The only 5K run entirely on Navy Pier, looping the North and South Docks on the pier's fitness trail.
- Mud and obstacle Muddy Dash – Chicago A beginner-friendly 5K mud run with obstacles and mud pits at Megacross, followed by an after-party.
- Mud and obstacle Tough Mudder Chicago Tough Mudder Chicago moved to Richardson Adventure Farm, home of what the organizers call the world’s largest corn maze, about an hour from both Chicago and Milwaukee.
- Food and drink 5-O 5K Donut Run/Walk Three donut stops where every donut eaten takes a minute off your finish time, hosted by the Collinsville Police Department.
- Animals APL Donuts and Dogs 5K Fun Run/Walk A shelter fundraiser where dogs run alongside their people, with canine prize categories, a costume contest and donuts.
- Holiday and seasonal Bank of America Shamrock Shuffle Chicago's St. Patrick's season 8K through the Loop, billed as the official kickoff to the city's outdoor running season and drawing 26,000+ finishers.
- Novelty course Brookfield Zoo Chicago Dino Dash An untimed 2-mile fun run inside Brookfield Zoo past life-size dinosaur displays, with dino costumes encouraged.
- Color, glow and night Bubble Run – Chicago A non-competitive 5K through stations of colored bubble foam at SeatGeek Stadium, ending in a bubble dance party.
- Color, glow and night Bubble Run – St. Louis A non-competitive 5K through stations of colored bubble foam at Arsenal BG Ballpark, ending in a bubble dance party.
- Mud and obstacle Case Creek Obstacles Mud Run For Everyone A farm 5K mud run with 30+ obstacles that finishes by snaking through Case Creek.
- Novelty course Centennial Route 66 5K A Route 66 centennial 5K that includes a full mile lap of the Illinois State Fair Grandstand racetrack.
- Novelty course Chain of Rocks 6K Run across the Old Chain of Rocks Bridge, the bent Route 66 span over the Mississippi, from Illinois into Missouri and back.
- Food and drink Chicago Beer Mile Championships Four beers, four track laps: an evening beer mile with elite heats plus chocolate-milk and non-alcoholic options.
- Quirky format CHIditarod Shopping Cart Race Costumed five-person teams race decorated shopping carts through Chicago neighborhoods in what organizers call the world's largest mobile food drive.
- Color, glow and night FoamGlow – Chicago An evening glow 5K with foam cannons and black lights at SeatGeek Stadium, held the same day as the venue’s morning Bubble Run.
- Novelty course Galena Sky Trail Races Timed-loop trail races up and down Chestnut Mountain's ski slopes with views across the Mississippi into Iowa and Wisconsin.
- Novelty course Lincoln Park Zoo Run for the Zoo A long-running 5K/10K that winds through and around Lincoln Park Zoo's animal habitats and finishes on zoo grounds.
- Novelty course Lincoln Presidential Half Marathon A half marathon that passes Lincoln's law office, his only home, and his tomb in Oak Ridge Cemetery.
- Novelty course Market Street Pizza 5K Spirits Run A 'bar to cemetery to bar' 5K that climbs to Oak Hill Cemetery above historic Mount Carroll and finishes at a pizza bar.
- Mud and obstacle Midwest OCR A homegrown obstacle race at an off-road vehicle park, with 20-30+ obstacles over 5K or 10K.
- Iconic tradition Proud to Run: Pride Race Chicago's Pride Week lakefront race, held the Saturday before the Pride Parade every year since 1982.
- Novelty course Race Across the River Runners got the first crossing of the new Don Welge Memorial Bridge over the Mississippi before it opened to traffic.
- Novelty course Race to Wrigley 5K Charity Run A Lakeview 5K that enters Wrigley Field and lets runners circle the warning track before finishing by the famous marquee.
- Novelty course Route 66 Mother Road 5K Foot Race Runners loop downtown Springfield among the classic cars of the International Route 66 Mother Road Festival.
- Food and drink Slice of Chicago - A Pizza Run 5K A pizza-themed 5K at Soldier Field with a pizza-shaped medal and a slice from Chicago pizzerias like Connie's and Bob's.
- Novelty course Soldier Field 10 A Memorial Day weekend run along Lake Shore Drive that finishes on the 50-yard line inside Soldier Field.
- Food and drink Stan's Donut 5K & 10K Two on-course donut stations and a donut-shaped medal at a lakefront race based at Soldier Field.