By Chicago guide Chelsey Grassfield
I ran with Melissa and her husband Stuart when they came to Chicago for work in March. It was a bitterly cold day when we set out from the warmth of their hotel lobby and ran through the nearby attractions on a 6 mile/10 km tour. In between stopping points, I learned that Melissa had done a tour in NYC in 2013. I was curious what had made that experience stick after all this time, prompting her to book another in Chicago ten years later.
Melissa and her husband Stuart on their Chicago tour in 2023.
When it comes to the traditional way of visiting any city’s attractions, Melissa had some strong feelings. “Sometimes the thought of sight seeing doesn't get me very excited because it makes me think of when I was a kid traveling with family and you would stare at the same thing for what felt like hours... How boring.”
Melissa appreciates an opportunity to multi-task and doesn’t need to spend too long at any one attraction before moving onto the next: “sightseeing by running tour is amazing. Not only do I get my exercise in but I get to see so many different sights but at a quicker pace - long enough for me to say I saw them but not long enough to get bored–some might say I have a short attention span!”
Not to toot our own horns, but of yours truly and her NYC guide she said, “the City Running Tour guides are so knowledgeable and great runners, so I can learn all about the history of things as we run by them - I like that I get to run and listen at the same time.”
A running tour can be a great way to get the lay of the land before setting off to sightsee on your own: “In NYC the running tour was on our first full day and I did a long run, ~15k I think, so I got to see so much and learned of really cool places to go back to after with my sister - including taking the subway, visiting Wall Street, and shopping in SoHo.”
For these reasons, Melissa’s next trip will include a running tour as well. Let’s just hope you see her earlier than 2033! “Now, every time we travel to a big city a running tour is the first thing I think of to book (with City Running Tours, if they are there,) and it is always my favorite part of the trip.”
