Run 43 different routes

In 2005 I joined some people from our local running club for Sunday morning marathon training runs for a couple of months. Though the mileage kept increasing, the basic route was always the same – starting & ending at what was then the running club’s office, then crossing the Centennial bridge & running on the bike path in Rock Island, then into town (sometimes through Black Hawk State Park), over the river via the arsenal bridge, and back to Davenport (and sometimes onto Credit Island). It was a lot of fun to have company one day a week, since I usually go alone.

This is hands-down the biggest race in our area – the first year I ran it, there were over 17,000 runners & walkers (there are probably more now), and the field always includes elite runners from Kenya – who nearly always take the top honors. The 7-mile course through Davenport has some nice-sized hills, with the first mile consisting mostly of the Brady Street hill (which is not the one that wipes me out). Since it’s at the end of July, it’s always hot and without rain, and spectators are packed like proverbial sardines. Some people have yard parties along the route, both on race day and on the 6 weeks prior to the race, which has course-protected training runs called the Bix @ 6 (run at 6:00 Thursday nights). Honestly, the training runs are more fun to me since the crowds are so thick race day, and I always get pissed because people who have said they’ll finish in under an hour (they have staged starting line areas by anticipated time) often walk up the frickin’ Brady Street hill in the first mile. I couldn’t do this race last year, because I was finishing the RAGBRAI bike ride, but will probably jump back in again this year. Fun race! Oh, and a lot of people run in costume – the post-race party has a costume contest, both for individuals and groups. Some very creative, others just funny – like the perennial guys in coconut bras and grass skirts! The Flying Elvises are a staple; they used to run the race as Elvis impersonators, but now that they’re older, they spectate in costume. Pretty hot at that time of year!

Every 4th of July (except the one year I was in CO) I do the 10k of the Firecracker Run in East Moline, IL. Though it’s always hotter than hades and has some nice hills, I just love this race! As with our local marathon, there are some local musicians scattered throughout the route, which is always fun – as is the post-race.

Though I was only able to make it out one morning, I did run in my daughter’s neighborhood in Citrus Heights, CA this week. Only 3.58 miles, but boy did it ever feel great! And it helped me scope out the neighborhood so I knew the way to the park, which we took little Aidan to later in the morning. I need to find a better route for the future, though.

I love running there, though doing any distance makes me really feel the lack of oxygen! My brother lives in Silverthorne, and for shorter but steeper runs when we visit, I just continue up the mountainside his condo is on. But driving over to nearby Lake Dillon is definitely more scenic, and I like to run into Frisco if I have time.

When we visit our CA kids, I always take my running stuff and get out for some short runs before the kids wake up, several mornings I’m there. They lived in Antelope the first few years they were in CA, and when we stayed at their house I had a route I ran in the neighborhoods. When Middle Daughter came with us and Hubby & I stayed at a motel in Roseville, I ran the bike path nearby – which was beautiful! It runs right along Dry Creek, and feels like you’re in the country, rather than the middle of a metropolis.

Now they have bought a house in Citrus Heights, so in a few days I’ll be able to discover a new route when we go visit!

In February, probably about 8 years ago. Went with Hubby to a black tie event, and ran a bike path on the military base there – it was really nice – secluded and woodsy.

Though I was only there for a couple of days, it was great. The motel where we stayed had pansies blooming. In February. 4 months earlier than ours >sigh<

This is a 5k race sponsored by our local running club, and several years ago I volunteered for both course control and serving the chili afterwards – and ended up running the route, too. I was stationed at the first intersection along with a really nice cop, so when the last of the walkers went past, I decided to run the route back to Duck Creek Lodge, where I then helped serve the meal. It was a bit chili chilly that day, just like today! :)

Or in our case, the half marathon to Marathon! This is a race Hubby and I ran in I think June of 2007, simply because we liked the name and were looking for a half marathon at that time of year within driving distance that we’d never done before. The full marathon starts and finishes in the teeny town of Marathon, Iowa, but us Halfsters were bussed out to the halfway point. It was almost entirely country roads (those farms dogs were really in a lather as we ran past!). Which entailed a stench I hadn’t anticipated, as plenty of the farms we ran past had livestock. Ewwww.

But overall a good experience – it was a well-supported race, and they even opened up the school in town for showers afterward. I ran next to a woman who was a nurse at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN for most of the race, which was fun. Though we got each other’s names, we still referred to each other as “Moline” and “Rochester”. :) She had on the cutest little running mini-skirt; the first time I’d seen one.

This is an annual race at a local county park sponsored by a bar & grill which is really a blast! There are 2 routes, both through the woods – one is only about 2 miles and the other ranges from 4 – 9 miles, depending on the year, and takes you through at least half a dozen streams, up the sides of a couple of steep embankments which you need a rope to get up, and through LOTS of mud! It’s like being 7 again, running wild through the woods near home with your buds. They also tie colored ribbons on some of the bushes along the route, and when you turn in the ribbon, you get a prize ranging from a candy bar to sports equipment like a basketball. Pumpkins line the route at road crossings, there are bails of hay to get over at the beginning, and there is chili and a warm fire in the lodge afterwards.

It will be this Sunday, and I originally intended to do it again, till my knee went bad. Next year …