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Well, it was a long way to drive to run a 5K, but I really wanted to knock out Wabash County this year, so I drove to Mt. Carmel, Illinois this morning and ran in the Mt. Carmel Public Library Foundation 5K. It was a nice little race and my time was 25:52, not bad for me.
A year ago I didn't even think Wabash County had any races, but this is actually the third year in a row for this one.
The course had a couple of hills, but nothing major. It went by some nice old homes in town and then along the Wabash River. There were no more than 100 runners and the shirts (cotton) were nice. There wasn't a lot of activity in Mt. Carmel, so traffic control was easy. It was a little humid this morning, especially along the river, but there were two water stations, which is good for a 5K. Post race was water and fruit.
I liked this race because I had never been to Mt. Carmel or Wabash County before. Mt. Carmel, population 8,000, seems nice, with some pretty older homes. It actually had kind of a southern feel to it. Its downtown has definitely seen better days though and its courthouse isn't anything fancy. I didn't have time to stop and try a local diner for a post-race breakfast, which is too bad.
This race makes Wabash County the fifth new county in Illinois I have run in this year and the 32nd county so far. Only 70 counties left as I try to run a race in all 102 counties in Illinois.