Zach Runs Chicago

Backstage at Thalia Hall after their live show last month (read my Chicago Tribune review of "Kyle Mooney Live" for more on that) co-writer/star Kyle Mooney and director Dave McCary sat down to talk about their debut film "Brigsby Bear," which hits Chicago theaters August 4th.

It's a virtually unclassifiable mix of drama, comedy, sci-fi, coming-of-age and general feel-goodness. It's also better to know less about it going in, which is why the trailer is essentially just a teaser:

Zach Freeman: Why do a live tour now?
Dave McCary: We enjoy it.
Kyle Mooney: It’s not something I - or we - do a ton of these days. Good Neighbor used to perform a decent amount. But we haven’t done anything like this since we’ve been on “SNL” so there’s a new audience with that. The videos - Good Neighbor videos - they’ve grown in cultish status over time so it felt good to do something and hopefully reach out to those fans that maybe like our videos and want to see us liv…

Juxtaposition is a great comedy anchor.

See:
Chris Farley & David Spade


Chris Tucker and Jackie Chan


Chris Tmas and Arnold Schwarzenegger


Hilarious juxtapositions right?

Especially the last one. I mean, HE CAN'T FIND THE TOY! AHHHHH!

Anyway, also see:
Yoga and Toddlers (more specifically "Parent & Tot" Yoga at Bloom Yoga Studio)

I have run a grand total of ONE time since crossing the finish line of the Chicago Marathon in October of last year. I know, I know, I'm disgusted with me too.

So when I got Fleet Feet's notice about the Pi Day "Pi K" Fun Run this coming Monday evening (3.14 - PI DAY, get it?) it seemed like a pretty solid way to get back out on the running trail without getting myself up super early or registering for a timed race where I would embarrass myself. Also, my wife and I ran this race back in 2014 and had a great time.

Plus, after an article I wrote for the Tribune about xkcd creator and all-around baller Randall Munroe speaking in Chicago at an Illinois Science Council (ISC) event, I know a little more about the organization behind the Pi Day Pi K and their mission.

Quick excerpt from the Trib article:
Founded in 2006 by nonscientist Monica Metzler (who also serves as executive director), the ISC was created to help engage adults in science and technology "with a…

Yesterday morning I gathered with several hundred other runners at the Field Museum for a "spontaneous" run along the lakefront with comedy superstar (seriously, he just sold out the United Center for three shows) Kevin Hart after he tweeted this on Wednesday afternoon:
Chicago, Get Ready. Field Museum on 7/31– Running @ 7:36AM! REGISTER HERE: http://t.co/UqOx1FcMAm#RunWithHart#NRCpic.twitter.com/AVHfzBlYej — Kevin Hart (@KevinHart4real) July 29, 2015 It may have only been a day and a half notice, but I say "spontaneous" because Nike+ Run Club had this event decked out like it was planned months in advance (wagering a guess that they had). This also proves Hart's stardom in that an organization like Nike would invest the time and money in prepping to host (the event included gear check, a race shirt, a post-race towel, water, food and dozens of volunteers, pacers and coaches) a free event that would only get around 36 hours of promotion. But the effort certa…

I'm not just a runner. I'm also a nerd... but not in the cool way these days of knowing a lot about the Marvel Universe or microbreweries... in the way of being a programmer. Anyway, I got profiled by the Social Science Research Center at DePaul University in their "How I Work" series. So here's me NOT in running clothes for once:

"How Zach Freeman Works"
But there's still a running quote in there:

What do you do to stay inspired?
I go running. If you run far enough it’s like meditating because your mind gets cleared.

As I mentioned last week, I went in for a double header this past Thursday with the decades old ABC7 Gibbons 5K at 6:25pm and the newly minted Monsters of the 5K/10K at 7:15pm. Since I went over the basics regarding each race in previous blogs I'll just touch on race day highlights for each here.


First off, the ABC7 Gibbons 5K was a lot bigger than I had anticipated. While there were only 747 chip-timed runners (I know this from checking the results) there were a lot more 5K fun run participants and 3K walkers. Pre-race the announcer claimed that registrations were up "about 45% this year over last year" so despite the race having been around for a while I'm not sure if they were ready to handle this many participants... at least at the starting line.

The starting line began on Columbus just south of Balbo and snaked around down Balbo. While there were pace signs clearly posted, the announcer only did the call for faster runners to get forward, which I personally fe…