Chicago SunTimes
and Chicago Daily Herald
Aug 28, 2025

‘A sense of hope’: Barrington man to run 80 miles in 23 hours to feed needy families at Thanksgiving

Rob Swiderski is running a route that will start at the Barrington Moretti’s and make stops at several suburban restaurants. He plans to raise $25,000 for charity.

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.

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