The route passes through several community areas: Woodlawn, the South Shore border, Hyde Park, Kenwood, Oakland, and Douglas.

[6] The first running October 5, 1997 occurred along the Lake Michigan lakefront and finished in Grant Park.

[10] Some runners, including 2009 winner Patrick Rizzo, use the race to prepare for the Chicago Marathon.

[12] The 2004 edition of the race, which had 9,000 runners, served as the USA Track and Field State Championship.

A city spokesperson claimed that the change was necessary to “ensure the safety of race participants due to a conflict with vehicles around 31st Street,” which was related to traffic from the Chicago Bears game at Soldier Field.