The Madison-Chicago 200 will take you on a scenic tour of the Madison-Milwaukee-Chicago corridor. The 200-mile course is divided into 36 Legs that teams of up to 12 members will navigate over a two day period. Teams will gather in Wisconsin's capital city of Madison on Friday, June 6th. The relay begins with a "wave start", commencing at 7:00 a.m. A group of teams will start the relay each hour thereafter, with the last group leaving at 4:00 p.m. Team start times will be assigned based on the estimated finish time that all team captains will submit prior to the race (using the calculator tool on this website).

You do not need 12 runners to field a team - many teams do it with fewer. Teams of 6 runners or less will compete in the "Ultra Division". The distances of each of the 36 legs of the course varies from leg to leg. And, with a team of 12, each runner will run three separate legs, including one at night. Thus, each team can accommodate runners of various abilities. On average, runners can expect to run a total of approximately 15 miles for the entire event.

Runners will transport themselves through the course using two team support vans, with each van carrying half of the team. Runners must follow a set rotation, which is submitted prior to the race, and must be followed until their team finishes. As runners complete their assigned legs, their support van will be waiting at the "Transfer Area" to pick them up and drop off the next runner. Each sixth leg is designated as a "Van Transfer Area", where the wristband (we don't use a "baton") which runners pass to each other throughout the relay is transferred from one support van to the next. The support vans, in essence, "leapfrog" each other through the course.

Runners will pass through such sights as Madison's Monona Terrace, the rolling Glacial-Drumlin Trail, and the scenic parkways of Waukesha and Milwaukee Counties. The race continues through the night, and some will run a lap around the Milwaukee Mile, the oldest operating auto racing track in the United States. There will be amenities at certain designated Transfer Areas, such as food and showers, and a place to take a nap. By Saturday morning, teams will be head through Racine and Kenosha, which include some beautiful lakefront views, and into Illinois via the Robert McClory and Green Bay bike trails. After navigating through the streets of Evanston and Northwestern University Stadium, runners will finish the course on Chicago's fabled Lakefront Running Path, at Montrose Harbor, with beautiful views of Lake Michigan and the Chicago Skyline. There, from 10:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., participants, family, friends, volunteers and sponsors can relax and celebrate their achievements with music, food, drinks, the camaraderie of their teammates, and new friends made along the way!