This weekend is the CHIditarod, an annual race through the Wicker Park and Ukrainian Village neighborhoods. The date of the event was chosen to coincide with the kickoff of the Alaskan Iditarod® (but they are unaffiliated).The race, also known as the Chicago Urban Shopping Cart Race, features some similarities to the Alaskan dog race, but are whimsically scaled down to fit the more urban environment.
Here are the keypoints:
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- The "sleds" in the urban version are actually shopping carts.
- The dogs are humans, (four pullers and a musher)
- All racers and sleds are costumed and themed uniquely and creatively.
- All carts must carry their own food. For the Chiditarod, the cart is full of food that gets donated to the Greater Chicago Food Repository.
In the words of the organizers, it's probably the largest mobile food drive in the world.
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| The Titanic. Photo courtesy of chiditarod.org |
The costumes are crazy and amazing, and the excitement is palpable!
It's too late to get involved and sign up a team for this year (that will have to wait until next year) but you can still attend!
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According to the website, great place to watch the race is near the starting line. The race will begin at the corner of Wolcott and Hubbard at 12:30 pm. (This is also the finish line!)
They recommend getting there by 12 noon so that you don't miss the starting horn. They encourage people to cheer on their favorite dawgs, but ask that people leave their actual pets at home. Also, remember that it's a food drive, so bring some food to donate!
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| A good place to see the race! |
For more information, visit the website http://www.chiditarod.org
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