Brooks Hype Fest 2024

 Disclaimer: As a member of the Brooks Running Collective, I received a trip to Brooks Hype Fest and complimentary running gear. This is a recap of the event. All opinions are my own.

Year 3 of Brooks Hype Fest--held in my hometown of Chicago, no less--and I couldn't imagine it being any better than last year! But as a lifelong resident and long time runner of the Chicago area, I knew that my city could bring it in a big way. 

Chicago delivered and the BRC took it and ran with it!

thanks to Keegan for this cool rendition of the bean!

As with last year, the pre-Hype Fest enthusiasm was out of control! The team communicates via Slack and everyone was posting fast and furiously. The Brooks Community Managers kept us up to date with daily announcements and the excitement just continued to build. Of course, I was nervous--I always am, but I was feeling a little more comfortable this year, reminding myself that I made so many friends last year. I'm active on Instagram and in the Slack group, and I've also gotten to know my fellow Chicago ambassadors well over the past year.

With plans to meet my youngest son for lunch, I drove down to the city on Friday morning. Using the SpotHero app, I scored weekend parking at an indoor garage 2 blocks from the hotel at a decent rate. We were staying at the Pendry Hotel, an historic hotel in the Carbon and Carbide building. I picked up my gear bag and checked into the hotel. This year, we all had our own rooms! My room wasn't ready, but I serendipitously ran into my friend Frankie, who let me stow my gear in his room. We walked 1 block to Starbucks for lunch. My son met us there.

I had been asked to lead an Art Tour of downtown Chicago on Saturday and I asked my son to help me navigate the route. I spend a lot of time in the city, but not so much downtown except for races, and I wasn't as familiar with the art installations in the loop. The community managers suggested I use the RunGo app, which has preprogrammed routes. Frankie wanted to join us and the 3 of us set off. The app was confusing to me and I was glad I had both of them along to help me sort it out. We spent the afternoon roaming the loop and got a lot of really good photos.

You can see my son photographing us in the bean

The Picasso

When we got back to the hotel, my son left. Frankie and I went up to his room and unpacked our gear bags. We received some new RunVisible Gear for the run on Friday night, some other gear for Saturday morning's run to Navy Pier, and a Let's Run There Shirt designed by one of the team members, Mikka, who is an artist. This has become my favorite shirt! We also received a Water.io bottle, a 'smart water bottle;

When my room was ready, I left Frankie to get settled in. I was stunned to see that I had been given a large corner room! I had views to the east and the south. The bathroom was my favorite--marble flooring and a giant shower. I couldn't believe it! The photos just don't do it justice.

The plan for the evening was to do a run along the lakefront path, with a late dinner. I was starving and I knew I wasn't going to be able to run without eating. Taste of Chicago was being held in Grant Park. The hotel was about 4 blocks from there, so I walked down to get a piece of pizza. This was the best idea--that pizza kept me full for the rest of the day!

I changed into my RunVisible Gear and went to the Ballroom to meet up with the other team members. The Brooks team leaders led us in a chant of "Let's Run There" and then shared the plans for the run with us. They also stressed the importance of posting lots of content. We listened to a talk by runner and Brooks influencer Rylee Jade, who gave us lots of tips. After that, we all joined our pace groups--I finally met up with Deborah-- and headed out to Michigan Avenue, down the Riverwalk, and to the Lakefront Path. It was really windy and the waves were washing up onto the path. The sky was beautiful, with orange clouds to match our outfits. We stopped for photos, got our feet wet (unintentionally), and then headed back to the hotel. 

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Chicago teammate Dan and me

I felt really sweaty, so I went up to my room to take a quick shower. That bath gel smelled so good, I didn't want to get out! Clean, dry clothes felt good and I went back downstairs to the Gallery for dinner. I wasn't hungry, so I got a glass of overpriced wine and sat in a chair by myself, just soaking in the surroundings. I was joined by a few other teammates and we sat, chatted a bit, and played with our new Water.io bottles. I'll have a review on the bottle coming up!

Leah and me

We were up and out the door early for our team run to Navy Pier. Some of the team was already out on their long runs for upcoming races. Deborah and I decided to walk this one and we got to leave first! We walked with another teammate, David, who had recently undergone a hip replacement. What a trooper! He brought a camera drone and got some fun photos with that.

Once we got to Navy Pier, we soaked up the beautiful sunshine and took a ton of photos. It was still really windy and cool. The enthusiasm of the team was once again off the charts!

Another Chicago teammate, Laura, with Deborah and me

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When we got back to the hotel, I had breakfast and then went back to my room to put my feet up. My oldest son texted me that he was working a few blocks from my hotel and would I like to go out for lunch? You know I said yes to that, even if it meant missing a meet and greet with Olympian and Brooks Athlete Chari Hawkins. He met me at the hotel, we walked a few blocks to the Chicago Athletic Association and took the elevator to the top floor to eat at Cindy's. I'd always wanted to go there and I was not disappointed. The view was amazing. Lunch with my son? Always a treat!

Duty called and after lunch, we walked back to the hotel so I could get ready for my Art Tour. We met in the lobby and proceeded down Michigan Avenue to the first installation. But...the app wouldn't work. If you've ever run in Chicago, you know how the tall buildings mess with the GPS and your mileage. That's what happened to the app. And of course, Rylee Jade was on my tour, lol. I abandoned the app and we started the tour in Millenium Park, at the Bean, which everyone wanted to see anyway. We proceeded to the Pritzker Pavillion, which is very photogenic with the cool grid overhead, and I filmed a reel of everyone running down the BP Pedestrian Bridge. 

From there we walked to the Crown Fountain, past the Art Institute, and into the loop. One of the other Chicago teammates stepped up to help me find the other 3 installations I wanted to feature: the Calder Flamingo (the big joke was 'it's not a flamingo'), Picasso, and Miro's Chicago. We also posed in front of the iconic Chicago Theater sign. While the tour didn't go as well as I hoped, I think everyone enjoyed it! 

We went back to the hotel and I put my feet up for a while before getting ready for a big evening out! We were going to The Bassment, a jazz bar and everyone was dressing up in a "Gatsby-themed outfit with a Brooks twist". My interpretation was a fringed sequin top over Brooks black leggings, Brooks Hyperion Max shoes, a Brooks hat with a feather, and a jeweled headband. Everyone went all out!

more Chicago teammates: Duc and Nez with me

Fernando and me

The band was great and there was lots of dancing. I'm not a great dancer, but I do love to dance and it was so much fun! We ate from the buffet, which was probably the best meal we had all weekend. The party was still going strong when I left with Leigh, another teammate, to walk back to the hotel. 

There was a yoga class the next morning, led by one of our teammates Kalea Jade, who is a yoga instructor. She introduced the class as recovery yoga, but as a former yogi, I'd label it as level 2 vinyasa. It was a very good class and reminded me of how much I miss yoga! After class we had breakfast and then it was time to go. 

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The drive home went smoothly and gave me time to reflect on what was an absolutely wonderful weekend. I'm always amazed at how well Brooks does at picking the people to represent the brand on this team. This team is one of the most diverse groups I've been a part of. I am so proud to be a member of the Brooks Running Collective!

Have you ever gone on any kind of fitness retreat? Have you been to Chicago? What are some of the things you'd like to do if you visited Chicago? Want to read more? Check out Deborah's recap HERE!

I'm linking up with Deborah and Kim for the Weekly Rundown.