Bucktown Laces Up for Its 27th Annual 5K — and a New Milwaukee Avenue Wine Bar Is Already Settling In
By Socialhood News · Bucktown ·
Sunday, October 4, 2026, is not a quiet morning in Bucktown. The neighborhood's most beloved road race — the Bucktown 5K & Kids Dash — is returning for its 27th year today, threading runners through the residential streets and commercial corridors that define one of Chicago's most distinctive North Side communities. And just a few blocks from the finish line, a brand-new wine bar that quietly opened on Milwaukee Avenue in late summer is already becoming the kind of neighborhood anchor residents didn't know they were missing.
The Bucktown 5K has been a neighborhood institution for more than a quarter century, and the 2026 edition carries a touch of local history in its swag. This year's runner kit leans into the story behind the neighborhood's name: Bucktown got its name because goats — bucks — used to roam the streets of this working-class enclave long before it became a destination for design studios, vintage boutiques, and destination restaurants. Every 5K finisher this year receives a full-zip hoodie and a commemorative finisher medal honoring that history, while kids dash participants take home a youth t-shirt. Top male and female finishers receive a prize purse plus a voucher from Fleet Feet Chicago. Packet pick-up ran Thursday through Saturday at 1714 N. Wells St., and today's race brings it all home through the neighborhood itself.
For residents who have been watching the storefronts along Milwaukee Avenue's Bucktown stretch, the post-race wind-down this fall has a compelling new destination. Friends & Neighbors, a wine bar from owners Arin Butzon and Joy Johns, opened at 1861 N. Milwaukee Ave. — the former Red & White space that closed last fall — targeting a Labor Day launch. Both owners live within a few blocks of the bar, which shapes everything about what they built. As Johns described in an interview with Block Club Chicago, the concept was designed to fill a gap that neither of them could find in the neighborhood: a place aimed at a mid-30s Bucktown parent who is an everyday wine drinker rather than a natural-wine specialist — somewhere with a wide list, charcuterie, cocktails, non-alcoholic options, and a room that works equally well for a quiet read and a full-on party.
That framing matters in a neighborhood where the wine bar category has historically skewed either very casual or aggressively curated. Friends & Neighbors is positioning itself between those poles — approachable without being generic, serious about its list without requiring fluency in obscure grapes. For Milwaukee Avenue, which already anchors the Wicker Park Bucktown Chamber's car-free Meet Me On Milwaukee series and serves as the spine of the neighborhood's independent retail corridor, a resident-owned wine bar from people who live on the block is the kind of arrival that tends to stick.
Also new on the Milwaukee corridor this summer: More Than Fit, trainer Malik Scott's fitness business, held its grand opening June 12 at 1852 N. Milwaukee Ave., rebranding the former Pardner Sports Performance space. Scott works with private adult clients as well as youth athletes through partnerships with Chicago City Soccer Club and Pulaski International School, and frames the gym around habit-setting and behavioral coaching as much as strength work. For a street that has historically been stronger on food and retail than fitness, it's a meaningful addition to the mix.
Taken together, today's 5K and the cluster of new arrivals on Milwaukee Avenue reflect a neighborhood that keeps finding ways to renew itself at street level. The Bucktown 5K has now run 27 consecutive years through these same blocks — a rare feat for any community event in any city — and the wine bar, the gym, and the other businesses settling in along Milwaukee this fall are making the same kind of long-term bet on the neighborhood. For neighbors who want to follow along, the Bucktown Community Organization at bucktown.org and the Wicker Park Bucktown Chamber of Commerce at wickerparkbucktown.com are the places to track what comes next.
Sources:
1. https://bucktown5k.com/race-details/
2. https://bucktown5k.com/
3. https://fugroupchicago.com/blog/the-summer-that-rearranged-wicker-park-and-bucktown-by-corridor