Chiditarod 2023 in Chicago

The Chiditarod is a perfect occasion to dress up into a wacky and fleshy costume and race in a shopping cart with other dressed up people.

Starting at Wolcott Avenue and Hubbard Street, the race goes down in Wicker Park and Ukrainian Village. Moreover, you can donate food to the Greater Chicago Food Depository or money to the local charitable organization.

The date of the event is meant to coincide with the Alaskan Iditarod dogsled race. Only instead of sleds, people in Chicago use shopping carts. And humans pull the carts instead of dogs. There are four pullers and one musher per each cart—all are dressed in costumes they have made themselves. Each team is required to have a cart full of food for donation.

The event draws about 1000 people. It has collected over 70,000 kg of food and about $200,000 in donations since its start in 2006. CHIditarod describes itself as a part charity food drive, part beauty pageant, part bar crawl. Anyway, it's an curious spectacle to watch.