Charlie Clerk, better known as @Sidequesttre on social media, has three rules when making his “Catch That Train” videos.
Don’t get hit by a car. Make it to the train no matter what. And his golden rule: Leave no runner behind.
Clerk, 25, is a Bronzeville-based content creator and transit rider responsible for the popular video series, which features him and a crew of costumed Chicagoans running to catch CTA trains. What began in December with his post of a CTA bus passing him by has grown into a social media phenomenon reaching millions of viewers on TikTok and Instagram. His top “Catch That Train” video has racked up more than 20 million views and 4 million likes on TikTok.
The videos follow a simple format. Clerk shouts, “The train!” as he and participants drop what they’re doing and sprint to the nearest CTA station to make it onto an arriving train, while a song — usually “Father Stretch My Hands Pt. 1” by Kanye West — blasts in the background.
Clerk’s May 23 run at the Polk Pink Line station drew his biggest crowd yet, with almost 40 people eager to participate.
Gathered around Clerk, antsy would-be runners dressed as bananas, traffic cones and dinosaurs listened intently to his directions: “Run around this corner!” “Pose on this bench!” “Run on my signal!”
As the crowd continued to grow, people on roller skates and motorcycles joined the brigade.
Clerk posts the date and location of each run a week ahead on his social media accounts. He invites anyone to join. All he asks is that participants wear a costume, though he brings extras to share.
The May 23 run was Emmanuel Young’s second time joining the group. The 17-year-old South Sider called it “exhilarating” and said he loves doing “sidequest stuff.”
“Anytime I see an event in the city for this sort of stuff, I always love to go. It brings people together, and I love being in community with people and doing fun stuff together,” Young said.
Clerk now has 345,000 followers on Instagram and 182,000 on TikTok. His runs have drawn Michael Jackson impersonators and local horseback-riding cowboys. He has made it to almost every train line, and he said he’s looking to explore other cities and their transit systems.
“It’s so sweet. It’s truly insane to think that I’m doing this,” Clerk said.
“Catch That Train” officially launched in March, with a video featuring a group sprint to the Adams/Wabash station. Eventually, costumes entered the picture, including an inflatable dinosaur getup dubbed “Dino.”
“I love making people smile. That’s my goal,” said Clerk’s friend Devonte McNulty, 19, who often dons the Dino costume.
People are drawn to his train runs because “it’s unity, it’s transit and it’s the whimsicalness of it all.”
