Barrington man to run 80 miles in 23 hours to feed needy families at Thanksgiving

For Rob Swiderski, going the extra mile isn’t enough. He’s going to go 80.

The Barrington man will run an 80-mile ultramarathon in 23 hours starting Friday night during “Moretti’s Miles for Meals,” a fundraiser for Basket Brigade of Suburban Chicago. The group provides Thanksgiving meals for families in need in a dozen suburbs.

He’s hoping to raise $25,000 through sponsorships and donations as he runs a route that will start at the Barrington Moretti’s, then take him to restaurants in Lake in the Hills, Elgin, Bartlett, Hoffman Estates, Schaumburg, Mount Prospect and Wheeling. He expects to finish the run at about 6 p.m. Saturday back in Barrington, where the pizzeria will host an after-party.

Swiderski said his involvement with the cause was shaped by his experiences when going through “a rough time” in 2009 and in need of help.

“Some friends delivered food to my house, just out of the kindness of their hearts. And it was not only the food that I needed — because when you don’t have it, it’s everything — but it also instilled in me a sense of hope and this understanding that there are people that really care about me,” he said, his voice breaking.

“They delivered kindness and hope in addition to food, and it impacted me in such a way that I wanted to be able to then do the same for other people.”

He’s worked with Basket Brigade for seven years and serves as their community outreach director. This will be his fifth charity run.

Previous fundraisers include running 10 marathons in 10 consecutive days (“after three or four I was pretty sore,” he said). Another year, he ran 206 miles over 82 hours. He’s also done a 40-mile run dressed in a full turkey costume.

Rob Swiderski of Barrington ran a half marathon in a turkey suit to raise money for the Basket Brigade of Suburban Chicago.
Courtesy of Rob Swiderski

And last year, coming off hip replacement surgery, he ran the Schaumburg Turkey Trot, again full decked out in a turkey outfit, and set the world’s fastest time for a half marathon dressed as a bird. Only some nitpicking about his costume kept him from claiming the official world record.

“It’s just an honor to run for the cause and use the gifts that God has given me to not keep for myself, but to give back, to serve other people,” Swiderski said.

He always tries to do the runs through the towns that the Basket Brigade serves, which include Barrington, Bartlett, Carpentersville, Elgin, Hanover Park, Hoffman Estates, Inverness, Palatine, Rolling Meadows, Schaumburg, South Elgin and Streamwood.

“I want do them in a way where I directly impact the communities by meeting the people that we serve where they live,” he said.

Rob Swiderski will run 80 miles in 23 hours this weekend to raise money for the Basket Brigade of Suburban Chicago. He previously ran 152 miles in the Hennepin Hundred as part of a fundraiser for the group.
Courtesy of Rob Swiderski

This year, Swiderski has teamed up with Moretti’s as his presenting sponsor. They’ve been promoting the fundraiser through an email and social media campaign.

“First and foremost, what they did is they embraced me and this cause,” he said. “What I found out through this is that the Hoffman family (who own Moretti’s), the Moretti’s family, really believes in taking care of our neighbors.”

At each restaurant during his run, even in the middle of the night, he’ll stop for a 15-minute meet and greet then walk the next half-mile with supporters. Other runners and friends also will join him for legs of the journey.

“This is all about coming together as a community to take care of one another, so we want to invite local families to come out and walk with us to be a part of this cause, understanding that when anyone is part of a cause, they also are inspired,” he said. “They also have a sense of hope, a sense of being part of something bigger than ourselves.”

And since he’ll be “powered by pizza,” as he says, “hopefully I get a bite at the restaurants that are open.”

Sponsorships are available by the mile or in a flat donation at basketbrigade.net/morettisrun/. Swiderski said sponsoring 50 cents a mile “can feed an entire family at Thanksgiving.”

100% of money raised will fund the holiday dinners, delivered the weekend before Thanksgiving.

“I’ve delivered these meals to these families, I have seen the joy and the hope on the faces of the parents and the kids,” he said. “It’s a feeling that fills your heart.”