About
Read & Run Chicago is the first and only running events organization with routes built by stories! Running tours, book club runs, and other events are inspired by books set in Chicago, written by local authors. We use books and stories to explore Chicago.
All bodies, paces, and walks of life are welcome. Read & Run Chicago been featured in various media outlets including NBC, Fox32, Runner's World, WGN Radio, Block Club Chicago, Time Out Chicago, and more.
“All those books that surround me every day allow me to feel near to myself-to what I was, to that reader who kept growing, changing, adding layers-and to the information and ideas they contain. Or that they only suggest. Or that they only hyperlink: many of my books are planets orbiting around thinkers, writers, and historical figures I don't know firsthand, but that are friends of friends, involuntary accomplices, shifting pieces in a complex system of potential knowledge.”
-Jorge Carrion in Against Amazon and Other Essays
Where did the idea for Read & Run Chicago come from?
Allison Yates, a Chicago transplant, started running more seriously in 2019 after registering for a half marathon on a whim. She joined the running community at Edge Athlete Lounge, a decision that transformed her experience in the city from just a place she’s living to feeling like home. As a lifelong learner and longtime lover of history and culture, she noticed that as she ran, she started paying more attention to her familiar surroundings, including the neighborhood she’d lived in for several years. She began to observe and notice more than ever. Approaching running as a way to foster her innate curiosity made not only made the sport more interactive and fun, but more fulfilling.
At the same Allison’s running was altering her relationship to the city, she recalled that reading stories also historically changed her perspective and experience in a place. One day in 2021 while reading Daniel Kay Hertz’s The Battle of Lincoln Park, she kept thinking how great it would be to run through some of the places and points in time that were signifcant in the creation of the Lincoln Park we know today. Driven by a hunger for connecting with the city, it suddenly clicked that combining reading and running were an impactful way to not just work and consume in a city, but feel part of it. She set out to encourage other people to join her quest, and thus, Read & Run Chicago was born. You can read more about Allison Yates and the origins of Read & Run Chicago in this Runner’s World article.
About the creator of Read & Run Chicago
Allison Yates is an avid reader, runner, freelance writer, former English teacher, and former study abroad director who has lived, worked, and/or studied in Argentina, Spain, and Australia and traveled to nearly 40 countries in Europe, Southeast Asia, Oceania and Latin America. Her writing follows her curiosity, like learning about Indiana’s “Amish crack” donuts and how the Amish build America’s RVs, to how Trump’s policies complicated U.S.-Cuban international romantic relationships. She’s also a certified history tour guide through Chicago for Chicagoans. Originally from Indianapolis, she’s called Chicago home since 2017. She now works in secondary education operations and thrives spending time outdoors, biking through the city, jumping into Lake Michigan, dancing and listening to music, and having great conversations with authentic and passionate human beings.