Santa Hustle 5k, Chicago 2019

Coming atcha late, but better late than never: my Santa Hustle 2019 recap!

This is one of my favorite fun runs of the year. I love the swag for it (the shirts are always not only cute a festive, but functional) and I love the treats along the course. It’s not a PR course by any means, but it’s a lot of fun and is a great race for newbies or your friends and family who maybe aren’t the most active, or are of the “I Hate Running” variety.

The course is a nice out and back, starting at the south edge of Soldier Field (north of the big tailgating lot). It runs through the tunnel at McCormick place (with lights and music inside) and on the other side, just after Mile 1, there were Famous Amos COOKIES!

Thanks to my friend Sany (@sany.delight on Instagram!) for this amazing portrait mode shot of me stuffing my face, because it’s one of my favorite photos of me probably ever.

From there, you approach the turn and hit the water stop and another candy stop before heading back to Soldier Field! Sany outkicked me to the finish, but first we got a couple of great shots!

Overall we had a blast! I have no complaints about this race. The packet pickup was downtown at Road Runner sports near North and Clybourn and day-of pickup was fast and easy, as was gear check! My zipper was broken on the first hoodie I got, but I was able to swap it.

I highly recommend this race and hope you get to enjoy it next year!

Have you ran the Santa Hustle? How did you like it?