GuidesChicago 2026

Oct 1, 2026

Chicago Marathon Week 2026: shakeout runs, pop-ups and cheer zones

More of Chicago marathon week happens on Michigan Avenue than on any other street. Five of the pop-ups below sit on one stretch of it, from Tracksmith at the Chicago Athletic Association to PUMA in Tribune Tower, a twelve-minute walk from end to end. Grant Park, where the race starts and finishes, is across the street from its southern end. The rest is spread across Old Town, Lincoln Park, the West Loop, Pilsen and the South Loop. The week runs Wednesday 7 to Tuesday 13 October 2026, with the Bank of America Chicago Marathon itself on Sunday 11. It opens with Tracksmith's doors on Wednesday and closes with a group cool-down in Southport on the Tuesday after.

Heartbreak's week began early, on 1 October, with a Chicago-only drop of the Nike Alphafly 4 at its Halsted Street store. Two shakeouts come before race week proper: RAW with adidas in River North on Saturday 3 and Morning Miles with Mizuno in the South Loop on Sunday 4.

Everything on one map

Every pop-up, group run, talk, cheer zone and afterparty is on one map at marathon-weekend.com/chicago/2026, with each address, opening hours and sign-up. That page is the whole week. What follows is the shortlist.

How the week runs

Wednesday 7 October

The quiet start. Tracksmith opens at the Chicago Athletic Association at noon, and Peace Runners 773 hold their One Chicago Dinner on the West Side in the evening.

Thursday 8 October

The big opening day. The expo opens at McCormick Place, and rabbit, Brooks and Shokz start their weeks. Heartbreak and Nike send runners across the city on a scavenger hunt at noon. Three runs in the evening, two of them at 18:30.

Friday 9 October

Endorphins and PUMA open. Eight runs, from the Donut Run at Cloud Gate and QK on the lakefront, both at 07:00, to Peloton at Ohio Street Beach at 17:30. The evening is the fullest of the week, with a relay inside the zoo and an awards party at a hot dog stand. Two live podcasts record the same night.

Saturday 10 October

27 shakeouts, every one of them starting by 10:00, plus the Abbott Chicago 5K in Grant Park at 07:30. Runna and STORM open. The afternoon is podcasts, sign-making and pasta.

Sunday 11 October

Race day. 16 cheer zones between the 8K mark in Lincoln Park and Mile 26 on Michigan Avenue, four of them in Pilsen. Eight places to go afterwards.

Monday 12 October

Medal Monday. Free engraving at lululemon, PUMA and FP Movement. Tracksmith stamps posters until 18:00.

Tuesday 13 October

One last easy 5K, with physical therapists and compression boots in Southport.

Nine we would not miss

New Balance Untamed Relay presented by Fleet Feet. New Balance and Fleet Feet host a 10K team relay inside Lincoln Park Zoo on Friday night, with food, drinks and a relay party after. Team entries have closed but free spectator tickets are still open.

Heartbreak Chicago Marathon Week. Heartbreak teams up with Nike Running for a scavenger hunt, Locals Night and a shakeout. An awards party at The Wiener's Circle is the most Chicago thing on this list.

PUMA NITRO Lab Chicago. PUMA takes over Tribune Tower with a daily 1K treadmill race. Go under 4 minutes to make the leaderboard and get a shot at the Fast-R NITRO Elite 3, then grab a custom tee, a tattoo or a medal engraving.

Tracksmith Chicago Pop-Up. Tracksmith sets up at the Chicago Athletic Association with a limited Chicago collection in indigo and racing red, Heirloom Hoodie embroidery and finisher poster stamping.

Brooks Hyperion House Chicago. Brooks opens the Hyperion House on Michigan Avenue with shakeouts alongside Des Linden, Kara Goucher and Anthony Rizzo. On Friday evening Des and Kara record their podcast Nobody Asked Us live.

rabbit Chicago Clubhouse. rabbit moves into the Arlo with Greg Itahara's limited collections, a bingo night and a shakeout with Your Diet Sucks. On race day finishers get a poster stamped with their time and free flowers outside.

Endorphins Fuel Bar powered by New Balance. Endorphins takes over Momentum Coffee at Millennium Park with free coffee, fuel and New Balance x Endorphins shirts while they last. It also hosts a shakeout with 3RUN2, a Mile 11 cheer zone and an after party.

Runna Chicago Marathon Weekend. Runna takes over Eleven City Diner in the South Loop. Saturday is a shakeout 5K with coach Anya Culling and one-on-one race advice. On Sunday finishers get free medal portraits in a diner booth.

Bandit Chicago Pop-Up. Bandit has put Chicago on its 2026 World Tour with a marathon pop-up, a full capsule and a weekend of community events. Dates and venue are still to come. Its Bucktown store has been open since January.

If you are running: the shakeout runs

38 group runs from Thursday to Saturday: three on Thursday, eight on Friday and 27 on Saturday morning, plus three the week before and Plogging on Monday. Most are an easy 5K or three miles with coffee after. Some fill up, so RSVP early. Every run, by day, on the map.

With a bit of stardom. Heartbreak's shakeout on Saturday at 07:30, led by co-founder Dan Fitzgerald with Nike Pros. They call it the big show before the Big Show. The Brooks shakeout with Anthony Rizzo runs from the Hyperion House at 09:00 the same morning. Wahoo has Olympian Rory Linkletter and Eric Floberg at 08:00, finishing at a bakery.

On the lakefront. QK on Friday at 07:00 from Fullerton. Tracksmith on Saturday at 09:30, flat out and back along Lake Michigan. ASICS with Kofuzi on Saturday at 10:00, alongside Kenyan athletes running the Run With Kenyans Pamoja 5K.

With a donut at the end. Run For Change's seventh Donut Run/Walk on Friday at 07:00 goes 2.62 miles from Cloud Gate to Stan's Donuts, over Mount Roosevelt, the only hill on the course. Donut costumes encouraged.

Rush Street at Oak. Three Saturday shakeouts around one corner. Vuori and Arc'teryx from 08:00, then lululemon's visualization run from 08:30.

With recovery after. HYPE x PAUSE on Saturday at 08:30 is three miles, then free cold plunge, sauna and float at PAUSE in Old Town.

Away from downtown. Peace Runners take their Saturday shakeout to the West Side at 09:00, on purpose. The Chinatown Run/Walk covers its own stretch of the course from the library at 09:30. Darn Tough runs the 606 with Mirna Valerio at 09:30.

Not a morning person. On Thursday, the 3RUN2 social run from Goose Island and Heartbreak Locals Night at 18:30, which is half taper workout and half party. On Friday, Peloton at 17:30 from Ohio Street Beach.

Three races that are not the marathon

The Untamed Relay on Friday is teams of five to ten covering 10K inside the zoo, with the relay starting at 19:00. The Abbott Chicago 5K goes through downtown on Saturday at 07:30, and the field is full. PUMA's 1K Energy Race runs on a treadmill every day the Lab is open.

If you are watching: the 16 cheer zones

16 cheer zones on Sunday, and Pilsen is where to stand. The course runs north to Lincoln Park, back down through Old Town and the Loop, west through the West Loop, then south through Pilsen and Chinatown before turning up Michigan Avenue to the finish. Old Town at Mile 11 and Pilsen at Mile 19 are eight miles of running apart. Take the Brown Line from Sedgwick to Clark/Lake and change to the Pink Line for 18th Street, and most of you get there in time to see your runner twice.

Old Town, Mile 11. The Endorphins cheer zone is on the runners' left at 230 West North Avenue from 07:15. Under a mile down Wells Street, STORM turns its pop-up into a cheer station with a DJ.

The West Loop, Mile 16. lululemon has the cheer supplies at Ashland and Jackson.

Pilsen, Miles 19 to 20.5. The loud one. Four crews inside a mile and a half of course, just as legs start to go. Read & Run Chicago and Family Style RC at 15th and Loomis with book-themed signs. The 3RUN2 Cheer Squad is at 19th and Halsted, where the last 10K begins. Heartbreak is at Canalport and Cermak. Venados cheers in Pilsen too, with the spot still to come.

Chinatown and the South Side, Miles 22 to 24. Shokz is at Wentworth and 26th. One Tail at a Time's Rescue Mile on 28th and Michigan sees runners twice, at Mile 22 and Mile 24.

The finish. The official zone at Mile 26 on Michigan and Roosevelt, if you want to see the finish face.

Before the start, Brooks hands out cheer supplies at the Hyperion House from 05:30. If you need a sign, Saltbox has posterboard and glitter at Nomad Chicago on Saturday from 12:00.

The pop-ups

Most are free to walk into, a good share of the week's runs start from one of them and several run a cheer zone on race day. They are listed in the order they open. Dates, addresses and opening hours are on each event page.

Heartbreak Chicago Marathon Week. The week is built around its store on North Halsted. Heartbreak Honors on Friday has Chicago dogs and exclusive merch, and no running that night, so the legs stay fresh.
Tracksmith Chicago Pop-Up. The Chicago collection is in Van Cortlandt mesh, and hoodie embroidery runs from Thursday. Posters are stamped from Sunday noon to Monday evening, first come, first served.
rabbit Chicago Clubhouse. Greg Itahara signs posters and trading cards on Thursday from 11:30. The welcome reception on Friday has a fueling talk from Your Diet Sucks. Bring your bib to bedazzle after the Saturday shakeout.
Shokz Chicago Marathon Week. Pick up the Four-Star passport at the expo booth and collect the stars through the week. The Shokz City Bus parks in Lincoln Park, Harrison Park and Humboldt Park on three afternoons.
Brooks Hyperion House Chicago. Limited-edition merchandise and a Shine Under Pressure photo. Nobody Asked Us is ticketed and recorded in Stagg Court at the Chicago Athletic Association. The Mile 27 Celebration runs at the house on Sunday afternoon.
3RUN2 Chicago Marathon Weekend. With New Balance, Shokz and Propel. A social run, a shakeout and the Mile 20 cheer squad, all free on one sign-up form, then the dance party on Sunday night.
Endorphins Fuel Bar powered by New Balance. Throne Sport Coffee, Mush and Science in Sport stock the Fuel Bar from Friday to Monday. On race day it opens at 10:00, once the Mile 11 crew is back.
PUMA NITRO Lab Chicago. Custom posters, a candy bar and Nitro Cold Brew from Metric Coffee, with a Naperville Running Company shop inside. The Mental Performance Panel with Kofuzi is Friday at 20:00, after the Lab closes for the day.
Runna Chicago Marathon Weekend. The coaching booth runs five-minute sessions with Anya Culling on Saturday from 11:00, and the line is shorter mid-hour.
STORM Chicago Pop Up. A Charm & Hair Bar and a lounge on Wells Street on Saturday, a shakeout with Kate Mackz at 10:00 and a cheer station on Sunday.

One more is a community weekend. Peace Runners Chicago Marathon Week runs from a town hall and dinner on Wednesday to an afterparty on Sunday night.

Off your feet

Four live podcasts in two days. Friday has Nobody Asked Us at 17:00 and Off The Rails at Buddy Guy's Legends at 18:00, where Sharon Lokedi stops by days before her Chicago debut. Saturday has the Out & Back podcast at 13:00, then Marathon Handbook Live at the Chicago Shakespeare Theater at 14:30.

For dinner, the Kenya Marathon Dinner on Friday at the Hilton is East African food in the company of elite athletes racing on Sunday. Eataly serves pasta in one-hour seatings on Saturday.

Openings and afterparties

Friday is the night out, with the relay party at Lincoln Park Zoo, the rabbit welcome reception and Heartbreak Honors at The Wiener's Circle. Saturday night is for an early bed.

Sunday has eight places to go. It starts at 09:30 at the 27th Mile Post-Race Party in Grant Park, where runners over 21 trade the tab on their bib for a beer. From noon Tracksmith's after-party and the Brooks Mile 27 Celebration are on Michigan Avenue. Endorphins takes over Electric Shuffle from 16:00, medals encouraged. The night ends in two rooms. The 3RUN2 Post-Marathon Dance Party at City Hall is the ninth one, 21+ and sold in advance only. The Mile 27 Crew Afterparty from Peace Runners 773, Chingonas and 7 on Sundays goes on at The Hidden Gem until 02:00. The other two, rabbit's sweet treats and the Heartbreak after party with Nike, are on the map.

Recovery and Medal Monday

From 11:00 on Sunday Runna takes free finisher portraits in a diner booth at Eleven City Diner, where the queue can run to an hour. rabbit and Tracksmith stamp your finish time on a poster.

Monday is Medal Monday. Free engraving at lululemon on Rush Street from 10:00, RSVP only. PUMA engraves from 10:00 too, and anyone under three hours can swap their race shoes there for a new pair of Fast-R NITRO Elite 3 while supplies last. FP Movement engraves in Wicker Park from 11:00. To give something back, Tina Muir leads Plogging with the Chicago Marathon from Buckingham Fountain at 09:00, a 3K that picks up litter on the way.

On Tuesday evening Lakeview Run Club leads a free cool-down at Arc'teryx Southport, two easy 5K heats with stretching, injury screens and NormaTec boots from Muscle & Joint Physical Therapy.