This twenty-sixth annual fall celebration of "going long" made its rollicking return to our `Northside Racecourse` along the Chicago Park District Lakefront Trail. Our Northside racecourse follows the paved pedestrian path, with its "Start/Finish" near the Foster Avenue Beach House, a staffed satellite aid station at the North Avenue Beach House, and a 50 Mile "South Turnaround" along the path at a latitude of Walton Street / 950 N. Each out-n-back lap totals a running distance of 10.356 miles for the 50K (three laps = 50 kilometers), and 12.5 miles for the 50 Mile (four laps = 50 miles). We prefer to chart our northside racecourse for fall-season racing; this version marked the 50th semiannual running of Chicago Lakefront Ultras.

Official statistics for our 2025 Chicago Lakefront Ultras 50/50...
Race day unfolded...
Pleasant, typical fall-season conditions persisted throughout the day with temperatures ranging from 43° - 53°F, moderate lakefront winds, sun mixed with cloudy skies. Two 50 Mile runners, and five 50K runners opted for an early start. Due to an early morning expressway closure along I-290, four late-arriving 50K runners were afforded a chip-adjusted late start. All runners were `on course` between 6:32:47 -and- 8:27:15 am. Under the command of race starter Christina Quillian, the 50 Mile had an official start of 7:00:36 am. One hour later under the command of race starter John Dzurec, the 50K had a precision start of 8:00:36 am. Combining both event distances, this running of Chicago Lakefront Ultras posted an impressive finish rate of 94.4%!

CLU 50 Mile...
Back in summer, July 13th Nolan McKenna notified me of his intentions to debut at the 50 mile distance. Exciting news... as Nolan is a 3-time CLU 50K champion, with our second fastest time ever, 2:58:54 run spring 2024 [Dave Dunham, 2:57:29 2001]. From the gun Nolan set an aggressive 6-min pace, led by Tony Washington serving as race lead-pace-biker. Finishing in 5:16:28.8, Nolan now holds our 50 Mile third fastest time ever [Zach Bitter, 5:12:36 2013; Geoff Burns, 5:14:55 2017]! Simon Coughlin, 7:11:12.6 finished second place overall, with Zifeng Lu as third male in 8:09:48.3. 18-time finisher, multi-time and defending female champion, Rachel Burke was top female in 7:17:41.5! Gina Baldoni-Rus was second female in 8:50:43.2, with Yetunde Agbesola as third in 9:24:18.2.
Click for full 50 Mile Results:
Chicago Lakefront Ultras 50 Mile Results

CLU 50 Kilometer...
3-time past finisher and defending champion, Brian Robinson raced his fastest-ever CLU, winning in 3:38:10.2! 4-time past finisher, Brian Wickman raced his fastest-ever CLU too, finishing second place in 3:49:01.5, with Declan Thompson third place in 3:57:55.0 at his CLU debut. 5-time past finisher and defending female champion, Marina Dragatsis was top female racing her fastest-ever CLU, winning in 4:16:37.1! In their CLU debuts, Jill Naab and Ashley Bykowski remained within 5 minutes of each other throughout the race. With a stronger final 5 miles, Jill finished as second female in 4:19:30.7, closely pursued by Ashley as third in 4:20:52.4.
Click for full 50K Results:
Chicago Lakefront Ultras 50K Results

CLU Milestones...
Congratulations to `My First Ultra` finishers, who earned special pint-glass awards!  19 x 50-Mile runners... Zifeng Lu, Mitch Schneider, Gina Baldoni-Rus, Mike Deng, Claudio Miraka, Peyton Stoffregen, Anand Prabhakaran, Patrick Mangan, Joe Hartney, Lauren Decker, Lauren Decker, Daniel Kim, Stephen Weis, Daniel Szopa, Justin Laubach, Luis Cortez, Naushad Khan, Alexander Panayotov, Cruz Dyson!  55 x 50-Kilometer Runners... Mauricio Grisales, Anthony Wheeler, Anton Dolganov, Jill Naab, Ashley Bykowski, Peter Sonnenberg, Joshua Turner, Sean Monaghan, Bharathan Sundar, Jordan Bastian, Justin St. Andre, Claire Dooms, Daniel Vital, Jose Ortiz, Mary Rickel, Katie Groth, Heejoon Park, Ashok Venkatachalam, Molly Kunkle, Andrea Schultz, Mike Keegan, Rachel Muthui, Nicholas Murphy, Tyrand Williams, Jennifer Suta, Lubeca Betancourt, Patrick O'Malley, Davis Garcia, Amit Trivedi, Lucas Thomas, Kyle Mishler, Cynthia Egas, Sarah Pajeau, Daniel Craig, Ashok Kolagatla, David Perrine, Rebecca Holzhei, JoJo Auerbach, Michele House, Justin LeJeune, Alejandro Guerrero, Zachary Kam, Rafiat Akeju, Sarah Bockting-Conrad, Jude Almeida, Mary-Rose Yanke, Erin Mallory, Melanie Balanon, Kiran Gutta, Bhanu Singh, Charles Janisch, James Tang!
Search all Chicago Lakefront Ultras past finishers under the "History" tab.

Nearing the finish line...
Completing their final lap, racing up the path to Foster Avenue, drawn by ringing cowbells and cheering fans, past the race banners, across the timing mats, awaiting all runners... customized finisher-medals with race-dated lanyards, special recognition awards, a rejuvenating bowl of Red Beans & Rice, and lots of refreshments for all!

Making it all happen...
Let's ring a cowbell and give a rousing "shout out" to our race volunteers, many of which are accomplished runners, all of whom performed "beyond the call" to help ultra runners reach their goals!  Jen Birkner, Jimmy Jones, Jennifer Aradi, Sasha Johnson, Loula Merkel, John Dzurec, Christina Quillian, Beth McCloskey, Jerzy Klekowicz, Elizabeth Lockwood, Brian Sheridan, Hardik Prajapati, Tony Washington.

• Packet Stuffing: Michelle Thom.
• Foster Avenue Beach House Aid Station: Captain Jennifer Aradi, Loula Merkel, Sasha Johnson, John Dzurec, Christina Quillian, Jerzy Klekowicz.
• North Avenue Beach Satellite Aid Station: Captains Jen Birkner & Jimmy Jones, Brian Sheridan, Hardik Prajapati, Elizabeth Lockwood.
• Runner Check-In / Packet Distribution: Jennifer Aradi, Sasha Johnson, Loula Merkel, Christina Quillian, John Dzurec.
• Supplies Delivery, Aid Station Shuttling, Racecourse Monitoring: Brian Sheridan, Michelle Thom.
• Equipment & Warming Tents Set up / Tear down: John Dzurec, Loula Merkel, Sasha Johnson; Jerzy Klekowicz, Harry Prajapati, Brian Sheridan, Bill Thom.
• Red Beans and Rice Chef / Overseer / Server: Michelle Thom.
• Finish Line Greeters / Medals Presenters: Sasha Johnson, Loula Merkel, John Dzurec, Beth McCloskey.
• Manager of Finish-line Audit / Top Age Group Finishers: Beth McCloskey.
• Foster Avenue Timing Checkpoint Manager: Bill Thom.
• North Avenue Timing Checkpoint Manager: Captain Hardik Prajapati.
• Racecourse Marking / Course Cleanup: Bill Thom, Brian Sheridan.
• Awards, Medals, Lanyards, T-Shirt Designs: Bill Thom.
• Race Communications: Bill Thom.
• Racecourse Design and Measurement: Jeffrey Fleitz. Certified by Neyl A Marquez (USATF).

[Did I miss anyone here?  Please let me know if you notice a missing or misspelled name .]

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Commentary, feedback, links & recaps as generously provided by participants of Chicago Lakefront Ultras!

• #136 Cynthia Egas: Omg!!! What an amazing experience!!! Thank you so much for your time, detail and organization! The red beans and rice was sooooooooo delicious! Please thank your wife. I can't thank you enough for such an incredible experience!
• #152 Melissa Hedlund Nelson: Thank you for an awesome race today, everything was excellent. The volunteers were so kind and accommodating- very much appreciate all that you put into these races. It definitely shows and makes for a great race day experience.
• #154 Ashleigh Henrichs: I checked my records and yesterday was my 12th Chicago Lakefront ultra. So I have a ways to go until my free blanket, ha! Thanks again for a great race experience. You and your volunteers always make runners feel welcome and valued. Take care and hope you can get some rest today!
• #129 Bevan Das: Thank you for a great race yesterday, with wonderful supplies at the aid stations. Pickle juice!
• #190 Jill Naab: Thank you so much! This was my first ultra and I was going to be sad if it said I didn’t actually complete it! Thanks for putting this on!
• #163 Zachary Kam: I just wanted to take a minute to tell you how much I appreciated the race that you put on. It was my first ultra, I thought it was very well run and everyone was very helpful and friendly. I very much look forward to doing more of these events.
• #125 Naida Cole: It was great to meet you on Saturday and thank you again for organizing such a wonderful set of races!! Take care and thanks again! I love these races.
• #267 Ricardo Bucio: Thanks so much Bill. Everyone was very very friendly and supportive. Appreciate all the support at the aid stations. The winner should go pro! That’s faster than our marathon pace!
• #263 Gina Baldoni-Rus: I enjoyed your race overall. It was well-organized, clearly marked, and staffed with helpful and enthusiastic volunteers. I hope to be able to make the trip from Colorado again in the future!
• #126 Kelly Cotter: I really like the design of the shirts this year and was wondering if you have any extras for sale. In any case, thanks for a great race (I think this year was my 5th chicago ultra..) it was a beautiful day!
• #106 Steven Andersson: Thank you for all your hard work with the race this past weekend! It was a very enjoyable race and run.
• #214 Brian Robinson: Thank you SO much to you as well as all of the volunteers and supporters! Another incredible and memorable race as always. Looking forward to digging into the race report and going through photos with my morning coffee!
• #179 Lara Miller Shamblott: Thank you for putting this on, I'll forever cherish this memory of my first ultramarathon! The aid station volunteers were amazing and so were the words of encouragement from your bikes!
• #286 Jameel Jazara: I just wanted to express my gratitude and appreciation for what was truly one of the best race experiences I've ever had. From the volunteers and participants to the spectators, everyone was incredible, and the overall energy was absolutely surreal. Once again, thank you to you and the entire team for putting together such a well organized event. Everything ran like a well oiled machine. I'm already looking forward to running it back next year for my third ultra in March!
• #110 Lorene Barey: Thank you for everything. The event was amazing. Thank you to all the volunteers who supported us through tough times. It was my first ultra marathon and I really enjoyed it.
• #319 James Thornton: What a phenomenal experience, still on a come down mentally and physically from the day. Thanks so much to you and your team for such great organization during my first ultra.
• #208 James Pszanka: Thanks again for great day and I'm thrilled to just have cracked top half of my age group, let alone be 3rd! Is there also a $50k check? LOL!
• #105 Ruba Alobeid: Thank you for putting this on, I'll forever cherish this memory of my first ultramarathon! The aid station volunteers were amazing and so were the words of encouragement from your bikes! Thanks again and see you in the spring!
• #206 Monica Prestifilippo: I just wanted to send you a quick thank you note for the amazing experience I had at the Chicago Ultra. This was my first ultramarathon and it could not have been better. From registration, to the volunteers, to the organisers, what an amazing event and amazing day. Thank you to everyone involved. Loved every minute of it.
• #162 Tracy Jones: Thanks again for an AWESOME 50K! So happy to be back from am an injury & participate this year! This is the best race ever & I always tell fellow runners about it!!
• #111 Jordan Bastian: Just wanted to say first of all that running the 50K was a blast. It was my first ultra and I'm glad I chose this one. The out-back, flat course with the fuel stops every 5-ish miles was a nice intro to showing myself I can go longer than a marathon. It technically marked my 10th career marathon, so that was a nice milestone to hit. Looking forward to keeping this race in mind for future years! I was the one who ran with Chef Tee the whole time. I am a reporter who covers the Cubs, so I frequent his restaurant (Cozy Thai) near Wrigley a lot during the baseball season. He insisted I run with him, and boy was I glad he did. He's such a joy... and fast! Ha. Anyways, thanks again.
• #299 Patrick Mangan: Thank you very much for an outstanding Chicago Lakefront Ultra experience! What an amazing day and awesome team.