Before you read on
- When you race
- 11–15 February 2027
- How many nights to book
- 3 nights
- Who this race suits
- A lakefront race in a serious food city, if you can handle a Chicago February.
- Nearest airport to the venue
- O'Hare International (ORD), About 60 min by Blue Line and bus 29, or 44 min by rideshare
- Cost for the weekend
- USD 690 (USD 690) per person, Flights and race entry.
On this page
Should you race here?
A race on a pier in Lake Michigan, in the coldest week of the window, in a great food city.
Reasons to
- Four bus routes run onto the pier itself, so there is no walk from a station.
- February is the low season, so downtown rooms are about USD 160 and the museums are quiet.
- The Art Institute, the Skydeck and the architecture are all fifteen minutes away.
- Italian beef, deep dish and the West Loop, which is one of the best eating districts in America.
Reasons not to
- This is the coldest race of the month, at 2.1°C (36°F) by day and -5.7°C (22°F) overnight.
- The venue is a kilometre into a lake, so the wind has nothing to stop it.
- Parking is USD 65 a day, the most expensive on this calendar.
Conditions on the day
Creapure HYROX Chicago runs February 11th, 2027 to February 15th, 2027 at Navy Pier. Here is what that specific window is like on the ground.
The catch
The coldest race of the month
2°C (36°F) by day, -6°C (22°F) at night
Chicago in mid-February
- The February average reaches 2.1°C (36°F) by day and falls to -5.7°C (22°F) at night, the coldest race of the month.
- The venue is a kilometre out into Lake Michigan, so the wind off the water is the part that hurts.
- About 50mm of precipitation falls across nine days, as snow as often as rain.
- Daylight runs 06:49 to 17:21, which is ten and a half hours.
- Daylight
- Dark
- Bar height is temperature
What racing here is like
Your race is here
Navy Pier
February 11th, 2027
Creapure HYROX Chicago
- Everything below describes this building first, and the other for comparison
The venue at a glance
- Address
- 600 East Grand Avenue, Chicago, Illinois
- Nearest station
- O'Hare airport (ORD) by Blue Line and bus 29 (about 60 min, USD 7.25)
- Parking
- Garages on the pier, USD 65 for 18 to 24 hours. The buses cost USD 2.25.
- From the nearest hotel
- 10 to 20 min from Hotels in Streeterville
- Altitude
- 182m above sea level, low enough to make no difference to your race.
- Bag drop
- Hyrox has not published the bag drop arrangement for Chicago.
- Supporters
- Hyrox has not published spectator ticketing for Chicago.
Chicago has moved building, moved season, and grown from a single day into the best part of a week. Where you race, and when, changes the day more than most people expect.
Navy Pier, your race is in this building
A thousand-metre pier running east into Lake Michigan from the end of Grand Avenue, with exhibition halls along it and a Ferris wheel at the far end.
Known for. Being the most visited attraction in the Midwest, and for the ballroom at the lake end with its 1916 dome.
The building. Built in 1916 as a freight and passenger pier, used as a naval training station in the Second World War, and converted to exhibitions and leisure in 1995.
Race day and start times
The thing that shapes your travel is not the race date. It is when you find out what time you are racing on it.
Hyrox links individual start times on the event page about three days before the race. A provisional schedule goes up earlier.
What to bring
At Navy Pier, and only on the day you compete. Registration opens 90 minutes before the first wave of your division.
You do not bring a chip. You collect the ankle strap at check-in, wear it for the race, and hand it back after the line.
What your wristband does not cover
You are given a wristband at check-in. Hyrox has not published what the Chicago one admits you to. Check-in is open only on the day you race, so do not assume it covers a second day.
Getting there on the morning
Bus 29, 65, 66 or 124 onto the pier. They run early and they save you the walk along the water.
What you need to book
Before you book
Book flights and the last night around the provisional schedule, not around a wave you have not been given.
If Hyrox cancels or postpones the event, its terms do not cover your flights or your room. Check the cancellation deadline on both before you pay for either.
Flying into the city
Midway is closer to the centre and the Orange Line reaches the Loop in about 25 minutes.
Search flights to ChicagoBy train
Check train times and faresSomewhere to stay
The closest beds go first, and those are the ones that matter on race morning.
Compare hotels near the venueSomething to do with the rest of the weekend
Most people fly in for one race and see nothing. The day before is dead time if you do not plan it.
Tours and tickets in ChicagoSomewhere to put your bag
Flying out the same evening? This is the difference between a good afternoon and hauling a kit bag around a city.
Left luggage in ChicagoYour entry
Sold by Hyrox, one ticket per division per day. We earn nothing from this link and include it because you need it.
Official Hyrox entriesEstimate weekend cost
| Item | Local currency | USD |
|---|---|---|
| Three nights Nights near the venue | USD 480 | $480 |
| Travel, airport and around the city | USD 60 | $60 |
| Eating, three days | USD 150 | $150 |
| One athlete plus one supporter | USD 690 | $690 |
Getting to Chicago
O'Hare is about 60 minutes from the pier on the Blue Line and bus 29, for USD 7.25.
Blue Line and bus 29
From under the O'Hare terminals into the Loop, then a bus east to the pier. About an hour in total and USD 7.25.
Midway, if you can
The second airport is closer in, and the Orange Line reaches the Loop in about 25 minutes. Often the better arrival.
Entry requirements
Quick tip
Midway is the second airport and the Orange Line reaches the Loop in 25 minutes. It is often the better arrival.
Getting to the venue
Streeterville and River North are a short walk or one bus from the pier. Nothing about this weekend needs a car.
Four bus routes run onto the pier, so there is no station walk at either end, and a day pass is five dollars. Parking is USD 65, the most expensive on this calendar and a reason not to drive.
Where to stay
Navy Pier sits at the end of Grand Avenue on the edge of downtown, so the nearest districts are also the ones worth staying in.
Open in Google Maps · Get directions
1. Hotels in Streeterville
The closest, averaging about USD 160 a night in February. Walkable to the pier when it is not blowing off the lake.
2. Hotels in River North
Galleries, restaurants and the densest concentration of places to eat in the city. One bus from the pier.
3. Hotels in the Loop
The architecture, the theatres and the cheapest downtown rooms in February. Fifteen minutes on bus 29.
February is the low season in Chicago and nothing is in the pier that weekend. This is one of the cheapest downtown weekends of the year.
Neighbourhoods worth the commute
Navy Pier is at the eastern edge of downtown, so everything below is a short bus or a cold walk.
| Area | To the venue | Why | Suits |
|---|---|---|---|
| Streeterville | 10 to 20 min on foot | The blocks between the pier and Michigan Avenue, with the hospitals, the hotels and the lakefront path. | |
| River North | about 10 min by bus | Galleries in old warehouses and more restaurants than anywhere else in the city. The best base. | |
| The Loop | about 15 min by bus | The elevated railway, the skyscrapers that invented the form, and the Art Institute at the south end. | |
| The West Loop | about 20 min by bus | A meatpacking district turned into Randolph Street, which is where Chicago eats now. | |
| Lincoln Park | about 20 min by bus | Leafy, residential, with a free zoo and the lakefront path running along the whole eastern edge. |
Eating before and after
The night before a race is not the night for the best meal of your trip, which is harder discipline than it sounds in a city this good at food.
Streeterville
Between the pier and Michigan Avenue, with hotel restaurants and chains that serve from six. It is close, it is warm, and there is nothing to decide.
River North
One bus from the pier and the densest run of restaurants in the city. You should book ahead, because Valentine's weekend fills them.
Chicago food is Italian beef, deep dish and some of the best restaurants in America, in that order of local importance.
Italian beef at Luke's
Thin roast beef in gravy on a roll, dipped back in the gravy, eaten leaning forward. Eleven fifty in the Loop, and a Chicago institution rather than a tourist one.
Deep dish at Pequod's
The caramelised cheese crust version, in Lincoln Park, which locals rate above the famous downtown chains. Nine dollars for a personal pan at lunch.
Race day supplies
The practical failures that spoil a race weekend are almost never the training. They are forgetting the gels, or carrying a kit bag around a city for six hours.
Pack list
- Serious cold-weather clothing. The overnight average is -5.7°C (22°F) and the lake wind is on top of that.
- Something that covers your face. A February wind off Lake Michigan is the part people underestimate.
- Boots with grip. The lakefront path and the pier ice over.
Quick tips
- Buy a CTA day pass at five dollars. Two single fares cost four fifty.
- Reserve dinner before you travel. The Sunday is Valentine's Day and the good rooms book out.
Streeterville has pharmacies and a supermarket within ten minutes. The pier itself has very little open in February.
The last race in Chicago
Navy Pier is a recent addition to the Hyrox calendar, so there is little previous form here to pass on.
What happened
The last edition, in short.
- Four CTA bus routes stop on the pier itself, so there is no walk from a station.
- The pier is a kilometre long. Check which hall before you start walking down it.
What it means for you
How your race differs from that one.
- This is the coldest race of the month: 2.1°C (36°F) by day and -5.7°C (22°F) at night.
- Parking at the pier is USD 65 for a day, the most expensive on the calendar.
What else is on that weekend
A quiet mid-February weekend, which in Chicago is the low season.
| What | When | Where | What it means |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gracie Abrams | 11 and 12 February | United Center, West Side | Two nights at a 20,000-seat arena four miles west. It takes rooms rather than roads near the pier. |
| Valentine's Day | 14 February | Everywhere | The Sunday. Restaurants in River North and the West Loop book out, so reserve before you travel. |
| Navy Pier in winter | All February | The pier itself | Much of the pier's outdoor attraction is shut or quiet in February, which is why the halls are available. |
| Blackhawks and Bulls | Check the fixture lists | United Center | Neither has a confirmed home game across the race days, but both schedules move. Worth a look before booking. |
What to see
Written for someone racing tomorrow, not a tourist with a week. Each entry says how far it is, because some of these are worth a longer trip and some are not.
The Art Institute of Chicago
One of the great collections anywhere, strongest on the Impressionists and American painting, with Nighthawks and A Sunday on La Grande Jatte in the same building.
Skydeck Chicago
The 103rd floor of the Willis Tower with glass boxes cantilevered off the side. From USD 32, and February gives the clearest air of the year for it.
The Field Museum
Natural history on the Museum Campus, with Sue the Tyrannosaurus and a Pacific collection that takes an afternoon. From USD 30.
The architecture, from the river
Chicago invented the skyscraper and then kept going. The river walk is free and the boat tours run in winter when the ice allows.
What to do
The Lakefront Trail
Eighteen miles of paved path along Lake Michigan, passing the pier. Flat, scenic and in February very, very cold.
Millennium Park
The bean, the band shell and an outdoor ice rink that runs through February. It is free, and fifteen minutes from the pier.
A blues bar
Chicago blues is still played nightly in a handful of rooms on the North and West sides. Buddy Guy's Legends in the South Loop is the obvious one.
The Chicago Cultural Center
A free civic building in the Loop with the largest Tiffany glass dome in the world and a programme of free concerts. Warm, central and nobody charges you.
Raced here? Tell us about it.
Anything you wish you had known. It goes into this guide for the next person, and most of them have never done a Hyrox.
Things people find useful
- How early you really needed to arrive
- What caught you out
- What the hall was like inside
- Where your supporters watched from
- Anything good you did in the city
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Last updated November 7th, 2026.