A friend group’s mission to ride every subway stop – and run every street – in Chicago

While spending the day on public transit might not sound like the best way to explore a city, Joabe Bayer Barbosa (Brazil), James Barbosa (UK), and Matthew Plese (USA) are here to say that when it comes to Chicago, a record-breaking experience can be just around the corner (or off at the next stop).

Trekking through slush up to their ankles, and pushing through a snowstorm’s blinding winds, the three friends in Chicago, Illinois, USA traversed all the aboveground tracks of the “L” metro system last November – fighting both the clock, and lazy stereotypes about the city, to achieve their first of two Guinness World Records titles. 

The trio reached all 146 CTA train stations in just 8 hours, 58 minutes, and 55 seconds, taking the first-ever record for the fastest time to travel to all Chicago subway stations on 10 November. 

Yet even though their first accomplishment was impressive enough, Joabe and Matthew aren’t finished with making history, as they also are attempting to run through every single street in the third-largest American city. 

Joabe estimates that he is about 75% done with the massive marathon, while Matthew is roughly 25% complete – yet the Brazilian grad student said these two record attempts are all part of a wider mission to become the fastest to travel through every neighbourhood in Chicago.

And fatefully, he says, it all started off with a dream.

“I had a dream – literally –  one day, that we should apply for the record to go to every neighbourhood in Chicago in the fastest time,” explained Joabe to GWR. “The CTA ‘L’ connects nearly every part of the city, so we decided to attempt the fastest traversal of all 146 active CTA stations.”

A witness holding the trio's travel log

It took months for Joabe and Matthew to plan out an efficient route across the city’s eight colour-coded transit lines, and that even included the pair running between stations to make the best use of their time. 

But after preparing for their attempt, they realized they’d need another person to help them document their trip, so Joabe called up his brother James and paid for his flight to Chicago so he could aid them in their journey.

Read more stories about record-breaking adventurers in our dedicated Hobbies and Skills section!

Finally, on the brisk Monday morning in November, the trio were ready to take on the trek, setting off at 7:22 a.m from the Linden stop (as soon as they had tied the Chicago flag around their necks to wear as a cape).

Accompanying them at times was a reporter and photographer from the nonprofit local news site Block Club Chicago, as well as various witnesses who signed off on the group’s travel logs. In addition to the documentation from the press and eyewitnesses, the group also had to take a selfie at every stop, and write down at what time they reached each location.

Along the journey, Joabe, Matthew, and James ran into several hiccups, including: sprinting to reach multiple closing train doors, eating their lunches at 9 a.m., a few delays on the transit lines, and James repeatedly falling asleep to the calming rock of the train on the track (“he had an easy and boring job,” said Joabe).

They also had to battle through the first snowstorm of the season, which complicated all the running that they planned to do between stops.

Nevertheless, by the late afternoon the group had reached their last train line – and as the Blue Line doors opened to reveal O’Hare station at 4:22 p.m., they were overjoyed to know that they had completed the mission just 17 minutes before their deadline.

“We think Chicago is one of the best places in the whole world, and we want more people to come here and understand how easy it is to get around,” said Joabe to Block Club Chicago after the attempt. “It’s about showing people that you can go to Little India on the North Side, Little Village on the Southwest Side and anywhere in between on the CTA.”

And even though the trio had an arduous ride home on the train after spending all day on public transit, Joabe says that they’re still thrilled to have taken home their first world record – hopefully their first title of many, as they finish their race around Chicago’s neighbourhoods.

So best of luck to this great group in their future adventures – you are all Officially Amazing!