This twenty-sixth annual spring celebration of "going long" made its rollicking return to our `Southside Racecourse` along the Chicago Park District Lakefront Trail. Our Southside racecourse follows the paved pedestrian path, with its "Start/Finish" at Jackson Park's 63rd Street Beach House, and "North Turnaround" at a latitude of 29th Street. Set with a staffed and fully stocked satellite aid station in Burnham Park, at a latitude of 39th Street. Each out-n-back lap totals a running distance of 10.356 miles. Three laps = 50 Kilometers. We prefer to chart our southside racecourse for spring-season racing; this version marked the 51st semiannual running of Chicago Lakefront Ultras.

Official statistics for our 2026 Chicago Lakefront Ultras Spring-Season 50K, Buildup Run, Half Marathon...

Race day morning; pre-sunrise.
Crisp temperatures, 29°F greeted early arriving runners and volunteers at 63rd Street Beach House. Nine 50K runners plus one 20.7-Mile Buildup runner opted for early starting times ranging from 6:29 am -to- 7:19 am, prior to the competitive scheduled start time of 8:30 am. Meanwhile, 120 50K runners and eleven volunteers checked in at our start/finish area, while Jill Perry and four others set up our Burnham Park aid station, and Hardik Prajapati set up our 29th Street north turnaround checkpoint. Under the command of race starter Jason Dorgan, the 50K and Buildup Run had an official start of 8:38:50.91 am sharp. Slightly delayed by lingering porta-potty lines, the Half Marathon had an official start of 9:10:00.82 am. Combining all three event distances, this running of Chicago Lakefront Ultras posted an impressive finish rate of 99%!

CLU 50 Kilometer Ultramarathon; a race for the record books!
We were honored to have returning 50K champions from last year, Chris Dybas wearing bib #1 -and- Marina Dragatsis wearing bib #2. Prior to this season's race, two runners reached out with their race-day intentions... Jeremy Arthur of NYC informed of his "plan to run a 50k USA team standard time (i.e. under 3 hours)." Samuel Bradbury of Kittery, Maine informed of his attempt "for potential USATF record this year, specifically age group." From the 50K race start Jeremy and Seth set out at an aggressive pace, making the most of favorable race conditions. Through the first of three checkpoints Seth built a 34-second lead over Jeremy, which he held halfway at the northern turnaround / 15.534-mile checkpoint. Jeremy maintained an amazingly even pace throughout his race, always within 12 seconds of each of his 6 x 5.18-mile splits, finishing in a new CLU race record of 2:54:06.5. Seth finished second place overall in 2:58:30.2; his was the third fasted CLU 50K in history, and a new USATF AG for 45 - 49 (pending ratification). Tim Yuska ran the entire race in third place at 3:34:59, with sub-4 hour finishes by Matt Luff, Lynn Fitch, and Trip Zinni. In her CLU debut Brooke Kirkham was top female, with defending champion Marina Dragatsis in second place, and Marissa Meyer in third place female. Kathryn Rahn finished as fourth female and fastest female masters. At age 89, our eldest runner of the day was Roy Rubinstein who finished his 14th CLU 50K!
Click for full 50K Results:
Chicago Lakefront Ultras 50K Results

CLU 20.7-Mile Buildup Run.
Composed and steady in her CLU debut Tessa Medrano set out at 7:50 pace, then got faster for each of her 4 x 5.18-mile splits, finishing in first place overall. Michael Case has two CLU Half Marathons under his belt; on this day he opted for the Buildup Run, in which he finished second place overall. Victoria Brody and Boston-bound Mandi Florip finished in third & fourth respectively, with CLU 7-time past finisher Glenn Rice as second male.
Click for full 20.7-Mile Buildup Run Results:
Chicago Lakefront Ultras Buildup Run Results

CLU Half Marathon.
At age 15, our youngest runner of the day was our Half Marathon champion; Isaac Luff in first place overall. Finishing just forty seconds behind was Andrew Gallo in second, and thirteen seconds later, Andrew Huff in third place overall. All three top finishers were running their CLU debut race. Outdistancing the competition Denise Freer raced as top female, with Brianna Brackin in second place, and Kristin Strom as third female; Kristin has now completed CLU distances of 50 Mile, 50K, and the Half Marathon.
Click for full Half Marathon Results:
Chicago Lakefront Ultras Half Marathon Results

CLU Milestones; an incredible class of first-timers!
Congratulations to 46 `My First Ultra` finishers!  Jeremy Arthur, Samuel Bradbury, Lynn Fitch, Brooke Kirkham, Mark Palij, Enkh-Amgalan (Evan) Davaanyam, Marissa Meyer, Malik Robinson, Jack Smith, Teodoro Ramos, Renato Araujo, Jalen Owens, Barry Lau, Nathan Pratt, Ohm Shukla, Brandon Kloss, John O'Donohue, Hanna Zlotnick, John Christensen, Elise Yang, Daisy Fong, Mario Rios, Courtney Madigan, Amanda Hamilton, Marc Moran, Francis Ellert, Katie Bryk, Rachel Gallo, Noah Burney, Sam Guillaume, Zachary Levy, Royden Fitzgerald, Andrew Kneepkens, Huiling Liao, Rina Laios, Tiffany Meier, Marta Ziliani, Natalie Dybas, Jack Pusatera, Marko Milojko, Nathan Shrader, Melissa Nunez, Susana Guerrero, Marcos Damian, Kevin Reyes, Anahi Estrada.

Congratulations to 15 `My First Half Marathon` finishers!  Jacob Saieva, Joe Dellumo, Andrew Riley, Tyler Christensen, Sungjin Yang, Max Theodosakis, Tomomi Shimomoto, June Okada, Pierce Ellert, Jacob Irving, Leslie Hernandez, Connor Eberlein, Tom Ciulla, Matteo Bongiorno, Rachele Fairley.

Wow, big congratulations to `Back-to-Back Ultra Achievers` who raced or volunteered at last weekend's Paleozoic Trail Runs -and- today's Chicago Lakefront Ulttras!  Hardik Prajapati 50-Km / Checkpoint Manager, Matt Luff 50-Km (2nd) / 50K (4th), Tim Yuska Volunteer / 50K (3rd), Edgar Herrera Delgado 50-Km / 50K, Edna Vazquez 50-Km / 50K, Kimberly Sinde 50-Km / 50K, Jeni Goodwin 50-Km / Half Marathon, Boris Tannenbaum 25-Km / Half Marathon

Search Chicago Lakefront Ultras past participant finishers under the "History" tab.

Nearing the finish line.
Completing their final lap, racing down the corridor of Jackson Park Beach House, drawn by ringing cowbells and cheering fans, under the finish line arch and Chicago Lakefront Ultras race banner, 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 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!"  Jill Perry, Hardik Prajapati, Christina (Chris) Quillian, Nadiruddin Khan, Lubeca Betancourt, Rachel Ping, Lisa Aiston, Daniel Appiah-Agyemang, Kayla Argeropoulos, Alyssa D'Costa, Nick Donato, Omar AbuZeid, Khushi Agrawal, Mark Mitchell, Alex Shultz, and Carolyn Stocker.

• Packet Preparation: Michelle Thom.
• Jackson Park Beach House Aid Station: Captain Christina (Chris) Quillian, Nadiruddin Khan, Lubeca Betancourt, Rachel Ping, Lisa Aiston, Daniel Appiah-Agyemang, Omar AbuZeid, Khushi Agrawal.
• Burnham Park Satellite Aid Station: Captain Jill Perry, Carolyn Stocker, Kayla Argeropoulos, Mark Mitchell, Alex Shultz.
• North Turnaround Timing Checkpoint Manager: Hardik Prajapati.
• Supplies Delivery, Aid Station Shuttling, Racecourse Monitoring: Alyssa D'Costa, Nick Donato.
• Equipment & Warming Tents Set up / Tear down: Nadiruddin Khan, Lubeca Betancourt, Rachel Ping, Lisa Aiston, Daniel Appiah-Agyemang, Jill Perry, Nick Donato.
• Red Beans and Rice Chef: Michelle Thom.
• Race-day Red Beans & Rice Overseer / Server: Michelle, Alyssa D'Costa, Nick Donato.
• Finish Line Greeters / Medals Presenters: Chris Quillian, Nadiruddin Khan, Lubeca Betancourt.
• Manager of Finish-line Audit / Top-3 Age Group Finishers: Chris Quillian, Nadir Khan.
• JP Beach Timing Checkpoint Manager: Bill Thom.
• Racecourse Marking / Course Cleanup: Bill Thom.
• Awards, Medals, Lanyards, T-Shirt Designs: Bill Thom.
• Race Communications: Bill Thom.

[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!

• #443 Crile Hart: Hi Bill! Thank you so much for putting on a great race day yesterday! It was a beautiful day for running! This was my first time doing the Chicago Lakeshore Ultra race series and I will definitely be doing it again! Thank you so much! Can't wait for next time!!! Crile
• #471 Tommy Szymanski: Hi Bill, I wanted to send you a quick note thanking you for all of the effort put into the race. It was a really awesome day (special shout out to the volunteers for the energy they brought). My GPS watch recorded the following: distance of 13.19 miles and time of 1:31:02. Best, Tommy
• #138 Kiran Gutta: Hi Bill and Michelle, Thank you so much for the wonderful race and the great photos! I really enjoyed the event and appreciate all the hard work that went into it. Best regards, Kiran G
• #461 Fernando Pastor: Hi Bill, Thanks for sending the race recap email. Loved the race and will definitely be back. - FMP
• #50 Craig Gresser: Bill, Thanks for taking the time to give us all this information. That is why I have run the Chicago lakefront ultra 12 times. I was wondering if you had a picture of the blanket that you could please send me? Thanks again for everything and have a great day! Craig