Despite a throbbing headache, Weinberg fourth-year, Maia Egnal, ran 13 miles from The Arch to Cloud Gate (The Bean). As president of the Triathlon Club, Egnal wouldn’t let recovering from a concussion stop her from participating in their quarterly run alongside 15 other club members. 

The half marathon serves as training for upcoming races, as well as a bonding experience for the participants. Running in the back of the group, slower than normal due to the concussion, Egnal said she was happy to have the chance to spend the two hours talking with someone she normally wouldn’t spend as much time with. 

“There’s also camaraderie because there’s always someone who it just sucks for, like, it’s either their first time, or they’re not in as good shape as they thought,” Egnal said. “It just sucks for some reason. It’s a good feeling when you realize that people aren’t going to leave you.”

Throughout every year, students, with clubs or friends, set out to run or walk a half marathon to visit The Bean. The experience of this trip looks very different for every group, but it consistently serves as a bonding experience, a chance to see the city and even a method of content creation for many who do the approximately 13-mile journey.

Emma Sellin, McCormick ‘26, said her roommate who accompanied her on the walk had gotten the idea from a TikTok, and she decided not only to complete the trip herself, but film a TikTok as well.

Medill and Weinberg fourth-year, David Sun, also filmed a TikTok when doing the walk himself in September two years ago. He did the walk alongside two friends with whom he had walked for 15 miles in Hong Kong one day, which made them feel confident in their ability to walk the 13 miles of this journey. A third friend, Anais Duewel, decided to join them. 

Duewel, Communication fourth-year, said the walk allowed her to become closer with the rest of the group, as she went in not knowing Sun’s other two friends well. Duewel said spending the six hours it took them to do the walk really allowed her to bond and get closer with the group.

While Sun said he couldn’t decide his favorite part of the fun excursion, he said getting to see the different neighborhoods of Chicago and how they transition into each other was really memorable and cemented his spatial awareness.

Over a year after the walk, Sun said it still comes in handy. He was walking in Edgewater when his phone died and there were no trains running. But, because of his walk to The Bean, he was able to find his way to the Intercampus Shuttle stop and get back to campus, Sun said.

The walk can also be a good way to explore more of the city, as Sun said. His group stopped for Thai food for lunch in Wrigleyville, were handed free coffee on the side of a street on the way and even took the opportunity to visit the Lincoln Park Zoo. Duewel said they would have taken more stops to shop around in different neighborhoods, but Sun was “intense” about making it all the way to The Bean. 

“‘We can’t stop early on or else we’ll give up,’” Duewel said Sun said. “He was like, ‘We have to keep going. We have to keep going.’”

Sun said he knew if they stopped before they were about 75% of the way done then they would realize how tired they were and give up.

However, some students intended to go slow and really take the time to explore the whole city on their journey. Despite being the kind of guy who runs 20 miles for fun, Henry Schacht spent eight hours on the walk.

The Weinberg third-year did the walk with his girlfriend in April. They started their journey around 11:30 a.m. and stopped for breakfast and lunch, in addition to many trinket or stationery shops along the way and at the Navy Pier. By the time they reached The Bean at 7:30 p.m., Schacht said, the sun was already beginning to set. Before taking the train back to campus, the two went to dinner, Schacht said.

Unlike other groups that immediately reached the end goal, Sellin said she was shocked, and a bit disappointed, when they finally arrived at The Bean after 13 miles to find out they had to wait in line at a newer security checkpoint outside of the attraction.

While this journey has no consistent rules or paths to take, all walkers agreed on one thing: Despite being tired after the long trip, or even having to wait in line, they would recommend it to all—just make sure to wear walking shoes and bring water!

“Oh my God, you should do it!” Sun said.