A shopping cart race huh?
If you told me that one of the things I'd be doing in my lifetime would be competing in a Chiditarod (urban Iditarod), you would surely could've fooled me!
What is the Chiditarod?
In short form, I'd say it's a shopping cart race, food drive, bar crawl, fundraiser, and hurricane of frenetic activity all at once. To begin to describe the Chiditarod, you'd have to go out through to see it.
Costume Contest: There were Smurfs, State troopers, Legions of Doom, doctors, bathrobe girls, pirates, chickens, ghostbusters, and the second coming of Halloween. People were all geared up for a day of mayhem dedicated to the Chicago Anti-Hunger Federation.
Food Drive: The goal was to fill up your grocery cart with 40 pounds of food. Food came in the form of canned soups, veggies, broths, boxed noodles, and all things non-perishable. Along the way kind supporters would come up and give us food to show their support for the race. The payoff was at the end when the giant food truck collected all of the food from the over 120 teams competing in the race.
Cart Design Contest: I saw a shopping cart decked out as a pirate ship, a Mario Kart complete with Princess Peach sitting in it, a Star Wars robot walking fighting machine and not one but two teams managed to fit a barbecue grill to their shopping cart and grilled the whole way through.
Race: Did someone say this was a race? I am so out of shape and ran my ass off to the point of utter exhaustion and inability to breathe. If ever smoking's toll ever showed itself it was then and there! We finished the race in a little over four hours jogging, running, walking to the six checkpoints.
Random Acts of Fun: At one bar, we had to recite a haiku that I improvised on the spot:
O, Chiditarod
The shopping carts gone wild
Bring the food on home
At another checkpoint we karaoked with the founder of the Chiditarod and yelled plenty. At another checkpoint the team captain had to dance on the stripper pole at Five Star Bar.
Umpteen hours and six bars later my legs are still aching and I have caught a terrible cold from the Chiditarod. It was a great experience and I look forward to next year's race - it is a true riot!!!!!
Special thanks goes to the following bars for participating in the event:
Phyliss'
Inner Town Pub
Empty Bottle
Five Star Bar
Mahone's
Bottom Lounge read more