We Won the 2025 ‘Best of Chicago’ Awards!
Readers & runners on the rooftop at The Salt Shed in November 2025.
by Allison Yates
We are incredibly honored to announce that…
Read & Run Chicago was named Best Running Club in the Chicago Reader’s 2025 Best of Chicago Awards!
It is an incredible milestone to be recognized by Chicagoans—nearly 40,000 Chicagoans voted in this year’s awards—as an organization that is meaningful to the city. Since 2021, we’ve been connecting Chicagoans to the city’s stories and promoting movement, highlighting forgotten stories, up-and-coming authors, and people, groups, and organizations that promote equity.
In 2025, we:
👟 Ran 99.8 miles,
📍In 24 different Chicago neighborhoods and two Chicagoland suburbs,
📚 Inspired by 30 books set in Chicago,
✍🏽 Met 33 different authors and speakers, and
💸 Raised over $1,000 for local causes we care about.
And we are so very honored to have recognized for this work.
Readers & runners in Avalon Park with authors Monica Eng and David Hammond at our Fun Run inspired by their book, Made in Chicago.
📣 What’s Next
As Read & Run Chicago continues to grow and evolve, we’re working towards:
More community programming: Expanding access to movement and literature-based events in neighborhoods across the city, focusing on supporting local authors, bookstores, and small businesses.
Greater collaboration: Expanding partnerships with new women- and BIPOC-owned businesses around the city.
Increased awareness: We’re cooking up tons of interactive ways to spread the word about the joy of. movement and stories.
Thank you for being part of this journey. Thank you for loving our mission of running through stories, supporting local authors, and connecting with the complexities of our beautiful and complicated city.