The Chicago Area Runners Association (CARA), a non-profit organization, started in 1978 as a protest movement and running club. Rooted in seeing the world from a runner’s perspective, the founders of CARA emerged as the voice of a grassroots project that demanded high quality race standards, more opportunities for women to run and top-notch training programs. Since then, CARA has championed the running movement across Chicagoland, functioning as an organization dedicated to running advocacy, runner education, running accessibility, training programs, a competitive race circuit and high-quality runner focused events.