RegattaCentral

The Chicago River Marathon is a 26.2 mile regatta that will challenge the toughest of rowers seeking an adventurous row that rivals your average head race.

The race will start and end in the Bridgeport neighborhood to the South, and extend up into the Albany Park neighborhood in the North. The course covers the dynamic range of Chicago’s neighborhoods surveying the changing landscape from industrial to natural prairie land. Rowers will race through Chicago’s famed downtown and will pass such architecturally significant buildings as the Willis Tower, Civic Opera House, Merchandise Mart, The Wrigley Building, Tribune Tower, and Aqua Tower. The course will also lead rowers past the sites of Chicago’s four city boathouses, including the under-construction Bridgeport site. Perhaps most remarkably, the course runs under or past every single one of the city’s historic moveable bridges, of which Chicago has the most of any city in the world!

This year, the CRM has joined with The Paris Committee of Chicago Sister Cities International (CSCI) to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Paris and Chicago as sister cities, and to expand the reach of The Rowing Exchange. Now in its 6th year, The Rowing Exchange was started by Susan Hackett  and is chaired by Stephanie Leese Emrich of The Paris Committee of CSCI. The inaugural event of the Exchange was in the Fall of 2011, when The University of Chicago Crew sent student rowers to participate in La Traversée de Paris (The Crossing of Paris). This is an annual event on the Seine River and attracts rowers from over 25 different countries. In June of 2012, Parisians visited Chicago and were taken on a tour row. This year, over 20 Parisians will be joining us for the Chicago River Marathon!

Entrants registered before October 4 are guaranteed a complementary t-shirt. If you have any questions, please email us at [email protected].