Originally Posted by
HarborBandS
That's the Illinois Prairie Path, which does link up with the Prairie Trail further north and west. Yeah, subtle difference in name! To make it trickier, parts of the Illinois Prairie Path are mislabeled on Google Maps as "Prairie Trail".
Illinois is very flat. I did a 50 mile loop connecting the main stem of the Prairie Path, a couple of branches of the Prairie Path, and the Fox River Trail, and it was 1,073 feet of total climbing. But parts of it are quite scenic as you get WEST of Wheaton. Lakes, rivers, marshes, etc.
The North Shore Century in September has about 1,600 ft. of climbing for the entire 100 mile route.
Interesting. I didn't know about the name change. It was really nice though with phlox growing along the trail.
The run was memorable because I was in Chicago for a training class while simultaneously training for a marathon. Every evening I would get out of class, drive to a different part of the city and go for a long run. One night was the Prairie Path/Trail.
Speaking of marshes, I went into the Lincoln Marsh Natural Area and managed to get lost, which is pretty sad given the relatively small size of the place. I spent a while running in circles until I figured out how to get out of the place.
Class got out early on Friday and I did a 20 mile run all over downtown Chicago - the pier, along the lake front. to the Sears tower, through some garden near the chrome bean, stopping to talk to firemen practicing using the hose by spraying water into one of those canals. I stopped some businessmen and asked, "Hey, where should I run to go see something cool" and they were like, "Yeah, check out the Tribune building, that way!"
Chicago has a great vibe. Atlanta is dead at night.
And kosher dogs with sport peppers on the poppy seed buns at Portillos.
