Over the past two years, before the marathon majors, I have made the switch from running the big organised 5k shakeout runs to running the brand activations/shakeout runs. For me, it’s the community feel. Let’s face it, you are there because you like the brand, and you are there with a couple of hundred others who share the same passion for running and the enjoyment of whatever brand is putting on the shakeout.

These smaller gatherings of like-minded people give a more intimate atmosphere, you can stand around and chat to strangers before and after, run with strangers who strangely feel like your running buddy. You do get that with the official 5k events as well, but I don’t feel like it’s quite the same feel when you are in corrals with 5,000 other runners. Another big selling point for me, the brand activations are free, whereas you could be paying $50 for the Chicago 5k.

For the big marathon majors, there are so many side events, shakeouts, live events, activations etc, it can be difficult picking which to attend and also hard balancing the need to rest your legs vs two or three events pulling you in across a number of hours. This year, I came across a fantastic website marathon-weekend.com where they pull together a list of all events taking place across race week and break down the date, time, location, schedule, and any registration details for every event. It’s definitely worth checking out next time you are looking for shakeout ideas at any of the majors.

In 2024, I did the Lululemon Chicago Marathon Shakeout Run on the Saturday. This year, I will again be running with Lululemon on Saturday, but I also saw Matt Wilpers posted about a Peloton shakeout run on Friday in collaboration with a local Chicago men’s mental health group called MoveMENt. I have been a long-time Peloton user (TinManStretches), more so for the stretching and core classes but we do have a Bike and Tread. My go-to Peloton rides are the Matt Wilpers Powerzone Endurance Rides. I’m a big fan of the 60min, 90min and 120min rides, often sitting next to my banana on a Saturday morning, sweating it out before Sunday’s long run.

The chance to join the Peloton community in Chicago for a shakeout run sounded good, add in the chance to meet my favourite instructor, Matt Wilpers, then count me in. I just need to get there on time. My flight landed at 12 noon, I needed to clear immigration, take the metro to the expo, get through bib and shirt pick up and fight the expo crowds, back on the metro to the hotel in the Gold Coast area, drop my bag and make it to the shakeout run at Ohio Street Beach by 5pm. 5 hours seemed doable…

Peloton & MoveMENt Chicago Shakeout Run – Sat 11th October:

So yeah, those 5 hours to get to Caffe Olivia at Ohio Street Beach were more than enough, I even had time to call in Shake Shack on the way for dinner.

For this event, you had to sign up beforehand; it is free to sign up. They mail you a QR code, which is scanned at the entrance; those without were advised to sign up and return with the QR code.

Once inside the venue, there were a lot more here than I was expecting. I didn’t quite realise just how big Peloton is in the US. There were probably at least 200 runners here.

Matt was drawing a big crowd for photos, and I waited in line around 30mins for my turn. It was great standing there in line chatting with other runners about Peloton, Matt, marathons and Chicago, all part of that community feel. Matt was nice and friendly as expected, we chatted briefly about the marathon, Matt aiming for a sub 3, me aiming to finish after a long period out injured this year.

Then we set off, running north alongside the lake just as the sun was beginning to set. It was a beautiful setting. We ran 1.5 miles, turned around and headed back down to the cafe. I mostly ran by myself, but on the way back, I got chatting to an Irish guy who lives out in Chicago now. He was a member of the MoveMENt group. He was telling me about all the great things that the group do in the regular meets, giving men the opportunity to open up and talk in either group sessions or in sporting settings like this run. Having a space with like-minded men, doing the same thing and being open and free to just talk things through. Hearing his story, what he does with and for the group and even just the fact that someone set up this group for men to come and talk is such a fantastic thing. So many men feel like they can’t talk about their problems, worries and concerns, it’s not a manly thing to dothey sit in silence, struggle by themselves, often leading to men taking their own life, we lost a great guy in Ricky Hatton this year, one of many. I truly believe that the work MoveMENt is doing will be helping local men in Chicago, even if that saves just one man. What an amazing job they have done.

This one conversation with a stranger, sharing 15mins together on a shakeout run where I came from the Peloton community, he from the MoveMENt community, just shows what these small activations can do. That 15mins still sit close to me even now as I write this on Boxing Day 10 weeks later, as a man who only runs by himself, a man who has worked from home for the past 6 years by himself, someone who only really goes out to take my daughter to school, pick her up, take her to after school clubs, someone who doesn’t have many real life friends, two in fact, two friends I see once maybe twice a year. This conversation with a stranger, on a shakeout run together, thousands of miles from home, showed me the value in community, the running family and togetherness.