Day 555 – US – Illinois [Elk Grove Village to Chicago]

11/10/21

33km

  From Elk Grove Village (Illinois) to Chicago (Illinois)

North America

Another festive day in Chicago, welcomed by the Lycee Francais & the Consul General of Chicago

Out of the Airport industrial zone

A shorter day of running, the 13th in a row since I left LaCrosse, my last rest day. It just goes to show I don’t really need the weekly rest-day from a physical standpoint. But logistically, yes, I am struggling without the rest day. I am a bit short on my hotel bookings, I have been struggling with washing my clothes (just found a washing machine at my hotel yesterday and it was lucky). So, in all, yes, I am very welcoming of the rest day ahead, I had some work to get cracking with.

Running the last few miles with the School’s Athletic Team

Today was another festive run. The French School of Chicago had organised to welcome me at the Lycee. Children of various ages, from the school’s athletic team, were waiting for me at Lincoln Square. We ran together to the Lycee, and as we reached the premises we had a little round around their (impressive) athletics facilities and we were welcomed in style. The Consul General Yannick Tagand was awaiting, alongside the Dean of the Lycee Eric Veteau. Forming a circle were the children and teachers, holding signs and giving me a very warm welcome.

WIth Dean Eric Veteau (left) and Consul General Yannick Tagand (right)

The children had prepared questions and we went through all of them in about an hour. Like in all my exchanges with children (other schools I am in touch with) I notice they always come up with interesting questions, sometimes quite blunt, which I do not always have an answer for. I really enjoyed the session. We then had a bit of a lunch, the school had prepared some finger food and I enjoyed a great time, exchanging with the adults, teachers and admin team. They seem to like the idea of the journey around the world and it felt good to share the journey with such enthusiastic listeners!

I would like to thank again Consul General Yannick Tagand for coordinating this welcome into Chicago with Berangere Travard, Vice-Consul. They managed to get me, last minute, into the Chicago Marathon (and I know it is nearly impossible to get in, just a few weeks prior to the event). They also involved the team of the Lycee Francais – and it’s lucky that Dean Eric Veteau happens to be a keen marathon runner himself, and Corinne Manaranche formalised all the details perfectly.

Engaging with the children

In short, I had a brilliant day again on the road and off the road! It reminds me that though I run this journey solo, it’s the people I meet along the road that make the journey so enjoyable, worth sharing. And welcomes like today are so precious, so rare and so joyous!

Check my daily run GPS data on or

Here is the map of today’s run: