Chiditarod VII is coming! - March 3, 2012

Chiditarod (ʃai*dit'*ə*rɒd): n.) the annual Chicago-based phenomenon that combines elements of the Alaskan Iditarod with Chicago's finest brand of debaucherous social activism. One part food drive, one part pub-crawl, one part costumed race, all parts radtacular. The Chiditarod draws together 800+ people, both participants and spectators, and has raised over 46,000 pounds of food and over $21,000 in direct donations since its inception in 2006.

So far LTH member Attrill has signed up and may be looking for team members. He'll be running with his shopping cart/grill contraption, cooking at the check points. I'm a volunteer at one of the checkpoints. This usually gets underway roundabout 11:00AM somewhere on W. Randolph St.

I'll post more info as I am able to gather it--they try to keep the participating pubs and the finish line location pretty secret to discourage tampering.

bean wrote:they try to keep the participating pubs and the finish line location pretty secret to discourage tampering.

That begs the question...tampering with what????

See this thread for reports from previous years.

=R=

stevez wrote:

bean wrote:they try to keep the participating pubs and the finish line location pretty secret to discourage tampering.

That begs the question...tampering with what????

Sabotage can be a big part of the race and is encouraged by the powers that be.

Here's a video of the start from a couple years ago, it's a pretty big event.

bean wrote:

stevez wrote:

bean wrote:they try to keep the participating pubs and the finish line location pretty secret to discourage tampering.

That begs the question...tampering with what????

Sabotage can be a big part of the race and is encouraged by the powers that be.

The best sabotage I saw was a couple years ago when a team built Denver Boots for shopping carts and used a battery powered screw gun to attach them to cart wheels while teams were in bars drinking. The prepared teams had screwdrivers and had to manually remove the boots. The worst teams just abandoned their carts and have been shamed out of ever entering the race again.

As much as I can reveal:

The starting line is on Wolcott, just south of Grand. They tell me they'll attempt to set off @ 12:30 but they've been a bit late in the past. For spectators it's best to get there early, before all the racers are corralled.

The finish line is at the Bottom Lounge, 1375 West Lake Street. We're expecting people between 2:30 and 5:30. This would probably be the best place to catch up with Attrill and sample his victuals.

In between, the checkpoints are supposed to be kept secret. You can probably follow Attrill's twitter feed to chart his progress.

HI,

If I were not at the National Maple Festival judging maple syrup recipes, I would be there.

Have fun, because it looks like you will.

Regards,

Just saw this thread.

This was my 5th year participating in Chi-Rod. I volunteered this year at the Fifty/50, doing time in/time out while getting wasted. It was an absolute blast, as it always is.

If anyone remembers the '08 Rod....when Team Killjoy ran 2 teams, rigged the race, and won....that was me.