Now that summer is in full swing and hopefully most have recovered from Pride and the 4th of July festivities, it is now time to brace for the Gay Games! Happening every 4 years, the Games are a celebration of friendship, competition, community & inclusion. This event is open to the entire world and as a result Chicago is expecting anywhere between 50,000 – 100,000 additional visitors over the next couple weeks. There are over 12,000 competitors alone! In keeping with this festive theme of physical activity, I wanted to put together a small slice of things to do around town, for both visitors and locals alike to further enjoy the benefits of our great host city.
Concerning the Games themselves, there are dozens of sports to choose from, ranging from soccer in Oak Park, martial arts at the University of Chicago to track & field, bodybuilding and darts! For those events that require tickets to attend, those events are pretty much already sold out, but there’s still plenty to see. Simply go to the ChicagoPride.com GG7 Summer Guide to check out where various sports are being held.
Besides the Games, there are dozens, if not hundreds of things to do for the active-at-heart. During the week of the Games, baseball games are being held at both Wrigley and US Cellular Field (the latter not being until the end of the week). Once you finish watching amateur volleyball, you can head down to our beautiful North Avenue Beach for professional volleyball on the 22nd and 23rd.
Speaking of North Avenue Beach and the lake, the lakeside path is probably one of Chicago’s most prominent locations for the active-minded. The lakeside path is around 30 miles or more extending up from Hollywood Ave (around 5700 N) all the way down to the South Side of Chicago. If you don’t mind the massive crowds from Irving Park to Navy Pier, it’s a pretty great path for exercise; especially if you just want to exercise the eyes and people watch! Just make sure you know what you’re doing; nothing irritates an avid exerciser more than people who walk or ride in tandem, rather than single-file, on the path blocking half of it and so forth. Remember, thousands of us have to use that road, so please share!
For activities more organized and competitive, obviously a city of this size offers numerous sporting events every weekend; ranging from fun runs, competitive road races, cycling races, duathlons, you name it. Flyers and posters are all over the city and in health clubs; you just have to do a little research.
And with the Games, your favorite club may become a tad more crowded for the week; sometimes good (eye-candy), sometimes not (not eye-candy). Luckily, Chicago is actually one of those most club-saturated cities in the nation, though sometimes one wouldn’t notice from the general public’s health profile. There’s Lakeshore, Equinox, Crunch and XSport among others. These clubs may be offering visitor discounts for the week to catch a little of the visitor frenzy; so if visiting and staying downtown, call around. (CP.com Directory: Fitness)
On a final note, if you are looking to do something healthy and active, yet not necessarily competitive, Millennium Park has partnered with Lakeshore Athletic Club Illinois Center, which is located right next to the Aon Center and Prudential Plaza, to lead the Workouts in Millennium Park for the summer all the way to October. Every Saturday on the Great Lawn of the Pritzker Pavilion, there are fitness classes being led in the morning. Starting at 8 AM is yoga (mind-body & flexibility), 9 AM is Pilates (core strength) and 10 AM is a dance fitness class led by one of the various professional dance troupes throughout the city. All of these classes are free to the public and the space on the Great Lawn is excellent, especially for yoga. There’s just something different about working out in an open environment in great weather with hundreds of "friends" or like-minded people. That program definitely gives you a momentary sense of community. You do need to provide your own towel or mat, but when you are done with class, you have made a great, healthy start to your weekend without spending a dime.
Whether you are a visitor to our excellent city or a resident, there’s plenty to do both during the Games and afterwards. So while the weather is excellent and the sun is shining, grab your significant other, friends or whomever and go out and do something! With your body, you need to use it or lose it, so make the most of your time while you can!