Chicago Reacts to News Ice Agents Plan to Raid the City’s Famous Marathon

Every October, the city of Chicago closes down some of its busy streets to host the Chicago Marathon. This famous race has been run in this city for decades, and it's considered a must-try run by running enthusiastic from around the world. And while many of them are prepping for the 2025 race by training or making sure they have all the right gear, others are starting to worry about something else entirely: ICE.

Rumors are circulating online that ICE will make an appearance at this year's race.

Given the fact that Donald Trump has set his sights on the city with his formerly unprecedented decision to deploy National Guard troops to Chicago, many people believe the rumors that ICE will raid the Chicago Marathon, potentially rounding up runners and spectators from the race to take them away to parts unknown.

Keep reading as we dig into these rumors and see if there's any truth to the speculation that the immigration enforcement will show up to the race.

The rumor that ICE planned to raid the Chicago Marathon appears to have originally started on Reddit. The post has now been deleted, but the title of the thread still remains. "ICE @ Chicago Marathon," the Oct. 3, 2025, post read.

People quickly jumped in the comments to respond to the news, sharing everything from their plans to fight back to concerns about how a disruption could throw off months (if not years) of training and prep for some runners.

"Imagine spending thousands of dollars to travel to the U.S. to run this race completely legitimately, only to be yanked from the street mid-run and interrogated by these clowns. What a sad state of affairs," one person wrote.

"I'm really concerned as I trained so hard for this event and do not want it disrupted," another person wrote before asking if there was any possibility that the post could be fake, prompting some to say that they didn't believe ICE would announce their plans in advance.

Some Chicago area agencies posted on Instagram in an effort to set the facts straight and quell fears, sharing that the groups had not been made aware of any information about ICE agents attending the Chicago Marathon.

The post was shared on both the Chicago Parks page and the Chicago Parks and Rec pages, asking people not to share information that had been posted by unverified sources, and instead to look to the Chicago Park District for official news.

In a separate Reddit thread, someone shared a document that they claimed was an email from Chicago Marathon organizers, which said that they were aware of the rumors about ICE at the race, and that they were looking into the news to find out what was going on.

The Redditor asked for advice on what runners should do or have on hand in the event they encountered ICE agents on the run.

Organizers sent links to city and state resources on immigration policies in response.

The 2025 Chicago Marathon is scheduled for Sunday, October 12, 2025.