Chase Bandolik caught everyone’s attention when he ran 31 miles, in a row, for every point lost by the Chicago Bears against the Detroit Lions in early September — including the Bears.

Star quarterback Caleb Williams and wide receiver DJ Moore — who this week was named the Bears winner of the Walter Payton Man of the Year Award — have interacted with his social media accounts. Last month, the Bears sent Bandolik a gift package filled with Bears socks, pajamas, blankets and other gear.

Now, the Bears are 9-3. On Sunday, they’re set to face the Green Bay Packers, 8-3-1, at Lambeau Field. The winner of the matchup will take the lead in the NFC North and possibly maintain the top seed in the conference. 

For Bandolik, who has been running a mile for every point the Bears lose by in games since 2024, the challenge has become personal.

His fiancee, Rylee Jade Ollearis, is a die-hard Packers fan.

The rivalry is “definitely very competitive,” said Bandolik, a 29-year-old fitness enthusiast and gym owner from Wheeling. “A lot of her family’s Packers fans and a lot of my family’s Bears fans, so it’s kind of a fun rivalry.”

Now in competition with each other, whosever team loses this Sunday has to run 1 mile for however many points their team loses by. With an expected high of 29 degrees on Sunday, are they ready to brace the cold and the mileage?

“Good luck. You’ll need it,” Ollearis joked to her fiance on Thursday before they set out for a run together. He retorted that Ollearis should get a new pair of running shoes.

The friendly rivalry has become a tradition for the couple, who met in 2021 — the day of the Super Bowl, no less — to collaborate on a fitness challenge for their social media pages.

Ollearis ran 2 miles for the Packers’ two-point loss in January this year, when the Bears snapped their 11-game losing streak against the Packers in the Week 18 finale last season. Last November, Bandolik was left to run a mile after the Packers blocked what would have been a game-winning field goal by the Bears.

“We are both very competitive people, but I feel like it’s all in good fun,” Ollearis said. “At the end of the day, I just care that we’re both happy.”

Bandolik set out on the challenge to run 1 mile for every point lost in games in Week 8 of the Bears 2024 season. He ran 109 miles total for those losses in the remainder of their schedule.

This season, he set out on the same goal. At first, it seemed like the ultimate challenge for the ultramarathoner. The Bears had an 0-2 start. By the end of Week 2, Bandolik had already run 34 miles, 31 miles after the Bears’ 52-21 loss to the Lions. But since then, he has only run 48 miles total so far.

Chase Bandolik, an ultramarathon runner, has posted on TikTok that he’ll run a mile for every point that the Bears lose by. (E. Jason Wambsgans/Chicago Tribune)

“I feel like what’s so cool about it … is like the game could go anyway,” he said. “That’s what’s so fun is everything’s kind of live-in-the-moment.”

Ollearis, 28, said she inherited her Packers fandom from her grandfather who collected team memorabilia all his life. It was a way for her family to hang out every game day, which they continue to do.

She expects a 14-point win by the Packers on Sunday and said she’s been right on score predictions a few times this season. Bandolik expects the Bears to win the rest of their games during the regular season.

He’s gone viral since the start of this running challenge. Every week, Bandolik uploads videos of him before and after each Bears game letting his audience know about the season-long challenge. He has amassed over 38,000 followers on Instagram and nearly 97,000 followers on TikTok.

And the Bears players have noticed.

Packers fan Rylee Jade Ollearis, left, and fiance Chase Bandolik, a Bears fan, in suburban Northbrook on Dec. 4, 2025. (Chris Sweda/Chicago Tribune)

“It’s just been crazy to see some of my favorite players have been liking my reels, which is like mind-blowing to me,” Bandolik said. “I can’t believe just from my phone posting a video could be seen by someone on the team, it’s just like a crazy concept.”

Ollearis supports Bandolik and his success. She’s right there with him on Bears game days.

“Packers are my favorite team, Packers always,” Ollearis said. “I will root for the Bears because I love Chase. So, if the Bears are playing anyone else, I’ll support him by rooting for the Bears, but Packers always.”

The couple goes on frequent runs together, which range from running up to 8 miles on a regular day to competing in marathons and Ironman triathlons.

On Sunday, the loser will have to run right after the game is over. If it’s too cold and dark to run outside, the loser will run indoors on a treadmill.

Even though Ollearis expects a normal deficit, Bandolik expects the Bears to win by a million points, he joked.

With that, Bandolik has met his match.

“I love a challenge and I think I grow the most when I’m put under pressure,” Ollearis said.

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/12/06/he-runs-a-mile-for-every-point-chicago-bears-lose/