Chicago Lakefront 10 Miler runs on

Chicago’s Lakefront 10 Miler and 5K drew hundreds of runners Sunday for the race’s 48th year along the North Side lakefront. (abc7chicago.com) The Chicago Area Runners Association, known as CARA, started the event at 9 a.m. on April 12 at Montrose Beach, with a 10-mile race at 9:00 a.m. and a 5K at 9:05 a.m. (cararuns.org) Organizers describe the race as a spring tradition that began in 1978, making it CARA’s longest-running race and the original race along Chicago’s lakefront. ABC7 reported it is second only to the Chicago Marathon among the city’s oldest races. (cararuns.org) (abc7chicago.com) The course explains part of the event’s staying power. CARA says both distances run along the lakefront, include a climb over Cricket Hill, and end with a track finish. (cararuns.org) The race also sits inside a larger local running structure. CARA lists the 10-miler as part of its 2026 Chicago Racing Circuit, a season-long series that includes races from March through November. (cararuns.org) CARA says it has more than 10,000 members and more than 1,300 dates of programming and events each year, making races like this one a central part of Chicago’s organized running calendar. (cararuns.org) Entry fees for the 2026 race ranged from $49 to $90 for the 10-miler and $40 to $55 for the 5K, depending on when runners registered. All finishers in both races were set to receive medals, and the 10-mile race offered prize money for the top three finishers. (cararuns.org) CARA also says a portion of race proceeds supports hydration stations on the lakefront, which serve water and sports drink at multiple sites from Promontory Point to Montrose Beach. (cararuns.org) For Chicago runners, that means Sunday’s turnout was not just one more weekend race. It was a 48-year-old event still feeding the city’s spring racing season, one hill and one lakefront loop at a time. (abc7chicago.com)