If you’re looking to partake in a bit of horseplay this weekend, hoof it over to North Avenue Beach for the Grey Goose Chicago Beach Polo World Cup on Saturday and Sunday. And while there, be sure to check out Ben Rosenfield.

The 31-year-old West Loop resident is one of several players from around the globe participating in the prestigious tournament of beach polo. With his team, Titan Commercial Polo, Rosenfield will participate in his first sand tournament with professional players that he has paid — as in hired — to play with him on a high-level team.

“It’s as if old man Ricketts played third base with the Cubs,” explained Rosenfield, principal at Titan Commercial, a commercial real estate brokerage firm located in the Aqua Building.

The beach will be the site of a custom-built arena roughly the size of a football stadium, with VIP suites, pop-up shops, fashion shows and of course, the beautiful horses, which are track horses from the U.S. and Argentina, Rosenfield said. The tournament will host eight teams — four men’s, four women’s — with partial proceeds benefitting local charities.

Rosenfield told me that polo — aka the sport of kings — was once played here by Marshall Field and the Wrigleys. He said the Museum of Contemporary Art property was an armory that housed a polo arena, as did the Noble Horse in Old Town.

“It’s in our roots,” said Rosenfield. “Polo has been a part of Chicago society since Chicago was Chicago.”

I did hear a couple of grumblings from folks thinking it’s a bunch of manure this is happening on the beach, but I’ve decided they were just being horse’s asses. In fact, I’m sort of chomping at the bit to get to North Avenue this weekend and have a look-see.

Marathon man … Lake View resident Michael Gerhardt is a seven-time Chicago Marathon runner, (his best is 4:06:34) and he’s gearing up for the upcoming Oct. 9 event. Gerhardt’s charity of choice is the Lakeview Pantry, which he raised more than $1,200 for last year.

Gerhardt, a real estate agent, graciously took the time to answer a few marathon questions:

What does it feel like to accomplish something such as running the Chicago Marathon? It is very emotional but feels euphoric because so much preparation goes into this four hours of your life, from the off season training, to the in-season half marathons I’ve run.

How have you trained for this year? This year it was extremely hard training in the heat. I have tried to add some more weight lifting to my training and have bought into acupuncture and deep tissue massages. It makes a huge difference. Of course, I ran up to 50 miles during my weekly runs.

What made you choose to run for the LV Pantry? I have run for a corporate charity that really didn’t appreciate the hard work I did for them. Lakeview Pantry is a local food bank that feeds the needy and could use the money I raise.