Race like the city athlete you are

Have you ever wanted to be like Sylvester Stallone in "Rocky" and run up the steps with music playing behind you? Well, how about running up the steps of Soldier Field to make that dream a reality - but maybe without the music? It's possible, if you sign up for the Oct. 18 Men's Health Urbanathlon.

"The Urbanathlon is a way to celebrate cities like New York and Chicago that themselves can be a gym due to their size," said Matt Bean, Articles Editor at Mens Health Magazine who is originally from the Chicago area.

This event is a race that is complete with obstacles that take over the entire city and pretty much hits every muscle group.

"It's a different concept. It's just not one sport due to more interesting events," Bean said. "It's an inspiration to climb the steps of Soldier Field when that's not something you can just do every day."

While the race is sponsored by Men's Health magazine, there's no sexism here. The race is open to all genders.

The Urbanathlon begins at Navy Pier, and the first obstacle will consist of jersey barricades and a culvert crawl (basically, that means jumping over large barricades and crawling through pipes).

Then, you'll run south to the 31st Street beach marina where you'll encounter the Cargo Net Crawl, which means you'll crawl under a vehicle as well as a net (and you must crawl; no walking or slouching allowed).

Now that you've worked out your core, it's time to test your upper-body strength and coordination - starting with the monkey bars. You may have cheated as a kid on the playground, but in the Urbanathlon, you won't be allowed to touch the ground and you do have to touch every bar. Then, you'll have to tackle the Marine Barricades, which consists of five hurdles.

Then, you'll need to Marshall the rest of your strength for the final run to Soldier Field to climb the bleachers not once, not twice, but three times.

Keep in mind this race can be completed by an individual or as a team effort. According to Bean, many of the athletes sign up as a team, "but the ones who sign up individually are hard core and fun to watch."

Are you sitting there thinking, 'Wow, this sounds great, but I've only been to the gym once this month. I might need to be a bit more in shape before registering'? Don't fret, not only is Crunch offering one month free at its gyms for anyone who registers for the Urbanathlon, you can also work out in the Urbanathlete Group Fitness class to get into shape. You can also check menshealthurbanathlon.com to download your own training programs.

The race is approximately 10.5 miles long and, depending on the fitness level, can take as little as 1 hour, 15 minutes to complete.

"There is no question that the participants should be physically fit," Bean said. "However this event can be done at your own pace, it's not cutthroat but rather just a way to have fun."

This is the second time that Chicago will be holding the event.

"Chicago is a great city to work with and has made it very easy to bring the event here," Bean said. "The spectators enjoy seeing the city come to life."

The race will begin at 8 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 18, at Lower Hutchinson Field. Registration is still open and costs $110 for an individual and $165 for a team, which can consist of a team of three males, three females or three co-eds.

If you're on the fence about the race, there is a post-race festival with music and tons of swag that begins at 9:30.

For details and to check out other events that may be added, go to menshealthurbanathlon.com.