Starting line: 1900 W Hubbard, 60622

DO NOT SHOW UP WITH A CART IF YOU HAVE NOT REGISTERED. If you have registered, you may check in at 11 am.

Safety is our first, second, and third priority. You are responsible for keeping yourself and your team safe and in compliance with the law. That means obeying traffic signals and laws restricting public consumption of alcoholic beverages, staying on the sidewalk, and being respectful and responsive to pedestrians, motorists, and especially members of the Chicago Police Dept., should you have the occasion to interact with them.

You must be at least 21 to participate. Bars will be carding at the door. Form a line, and be patient. Life is a gift, so take those moments in line to experience, with ecstatic wonder, that burning feeling in your lungs, that blister on your toe, those rivulets of rain mixed with snot running from your nose.

This is a leave-no-trace event.  Make plans to take your cart HOME (not down the street) with you after the race.

We race rain or shine, friends, and there is a greater than 90% chance of rain tomorrow. This is the Chiditarod, not the Shangri-la, so there will be no cabanas to protect you from rainy showers at the start. We recommend ponchos, tarps, trashbags and duct-tape.  

Simple instructions for water protection:
 - Lay tarp on top of shopping cart.
 - Lay body under tarp.

Our Bike Marshalls are back this year.  And they rule. Our mobile team of volunteers will following you along the route.  They're there to help (and to give the coveted "Bike Marshall's Choice Award"), but also to make sure that there aren't any egregious violations of the rules. We're all about competitive spirit, but if we catch you loading your cart in the back of a pickup or taking off on a bike, don't be surprised if you find yourself going home empty-handed.  Take another look at the rules to save yourself some embarrasment:

http://www.chiditarod.org/content/chiditarod-rules

http://www.chiditarod.org/content/sabotage-guidelines

If you're endangering yourself or others, you will be asked to stop and you may be asked to leave. All decisions of the judges are final.

As in previous years, you must finish the race with at *least* 25 pounds of quality, non-perishable food in your cart.  If you have friends who aren't racing or volunteering, ask them to participate by bringing food to the start or finish line.  Times are tough; especially tough for those in real need.  Chiditarod isn't just a wild, incredibly successful race to glory. You are doing good work. Please dig deep and help your city-mates in-need. Given the weather, please make sure your boxes of cereal don't end up piles of wet cardboard.

There are five checkpoints between the start and the finish.  You must spend at least 20 minutes at each checkpoint.  You must have your race card (and have visited all the checkpoints in the correct order) to cross the finish line.  The clock stops when the last member of your team finishes.  There are special events of various varieties at some of the checkpoints. You may want to start now by familiarizing yourself with the cadence of Billy Joel's "We didn't start the fire."

The awards ceremony will be held around 6ish pm at the finish line, which is the Bottom Lounge at 1375 W Lake Street.

Map - http://tinyurl.com/cueh4l