Race organizers for CHIditarod -- a bar crawl and shopping cart race for charity -- issued an apology after some participants were photographed dressed in blackface.
A team named "Too Soon" featured two participants in blackface dressed as Bill Cosby and a Jackie Robinson West Little League player. Controversy erupted after photos of the team members circulated.
"We deeply regret that our inability to respond quickly to this unexpected behavior and come to a consensus about handling this team's refusal to accommodate requests that the make-up be removed resulted in our inaction, and that allowing this team's participation marred the race day experience for our community," CHIditarod organizers said in a statement.
Another member of the team was dressed as Bruce Jenner and outfitted the shopping cart to invoke Jenner's car. The celebrity recently got into a car accident that killed a woman.
CHIditarod is an annual race through Wicker Park and Ukrainian Village, where teams of five race shopping carts filled with food for donations and hop between bars. The event has raised more than 100,000 pounds of food and more than $100,000 in direction donations since it began in 2006, according to its website.
"Yesterday, the Greater Chicago Food Depository was notified that individuals participated in Saturday’s Chiditarod while wearing offensive costumes and makeup. We were also notified yesterday that similar behavior occurred in 2013. These actions are insensitive, inappropriate and contrary to the values of our organization," the Greater Chicago Food Depository said in a statement. "After being notified, we expressed our disapproval to the event organizers. As a beneficiary of food drive donations from Chiditarod, the Food Depository is requesting corrective steps from the organizers to ensure this is never repeated."
