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General Information Ken Blanchard |
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Hotels: |
Concorde Inn (309) 347-5533 • 2801 Court St. ($39 single, $49 double) |
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Directions to the hotels: |
From the north and east take 74 to 155 south. Take 155 south to Rt. 9. Take Rt. 9 into Pekin. Rt. 9 turns into Court Street once you enter Pekin. The hotels will be on your right as you enter town. From the south, take 55 to 155 north. Take 155 north to Rt. 9 into Pekin. Rt. 9 will turn into Court Street once you enter Pekin. The hotels will be on your right as you enter town. From the west, take 474 to Rt. 29. Follow Rt. 29 towards Pekin and turn onto Rt. 98 as you are going to the start/finish. Turn at your second light (Parkway Drive). Take Parkway through two four way stops and two lights and then turn left on Court Street. Take Court Street east until you get to the edge of town. You will see the hotels on your left. |
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Directions to the start/finish from the hotels: |
Take a right onto Court Street and head west. Follow Court until you reach Parkway Drive. Go right on Parkway and through two lights and two four way stops. The next light is Edgewater Drive (this is also known as Rt. 98). Take a right on Edgewater and go up a hill. You will pass a residence driveway and the entrance to your park will be your next right at the top of a hill. There is also a sign for Soldwell Program Center. Turn right into the park and follow that driveway until it ends. N 40 degrees, 35.606 minutes and W 089 degrees, 36.250 minutes. Elevation 512 feet. |
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Food: |
Goodfellows (1414 N. 8th St.), Pepperoni’s (509 S. Parkway Dr.), and LaGondola (2996 Court St.) have pasta and pizza. You can also find Mexican, Applebee’s, fast food, and pizza along Court Street. |
| Food Note: |
All of these are one block off Court Street, which is a main street running east/west in Pekin. The Concorde Inn has set aside rooms for the 28th at reasonable rates. The hotels are ten minutes from the start. |
| Directions to the race: |
From the west, Take 74 to 474 over the Illinois River and take the first exit after the bridge. This will be Rt. 29. Follow the signs to Pekin. You will pass Marquette Heights and North Pekin. There will be a light at Rt. 98 and you need to take a left towards Morton. Cupi’s Motor Mall is located at that corner. Route 98 is also called Edgewater. Take Route 98 through two lights. You will then pass a residence driveway on the right, go up a short hill and take your next right. This is the entrance to McNaughton Park. There will also be a sign for Soldwell Program Center. Follow this driveway until it ends and you will be at the start/finish area. From the east, Take 74 to 474. Get off at Exit 9, which will be for Rt. 29. Turn left to go to Pekin and then use the above directions to get to the start/finish. Pekin is south of Peoria. Those of you coming from the North or the South will be using I55 to get to Rt. 74. Once on 74 you will take 474 and use Exit 9. |
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Course markings: |
You will be following the Potowatami Trail (RED TRAIL). The entire race will be run in the woods, around prairies, or through fields. The Park District is marked once a year with red paint on trees. There are also orange marks on trees for the horses. You will always follow the Red Markings and my YELLOW TAPE. VERY IMPORTANT THAT YOU FOLLOW THE YELLOW TAPE. There are areas where the orange tree markings and the red markings vary. I will overload those areas with tape. There are also two sections where you will leave the red trail so it is important that you follow the yellow tape. There will also be white ground paint to follow in the grass. Getting lost will be very hard to do. |
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Creek crossings: |
You will always be able to stay dry if you choose too. This may take twenty or thirty seconds off your time each crossing but it can be done, unless we have heavy rains the week of the race. Heavy rains, nobody stays dry. The 1st crossing is the deepest and to run straight through it you will get wet. There is a narrow spot to the right about twenty yards. Once across the creek you will go right (following my tape and the red markings, DON’T follow the orange). #2 has some rocks you can jump on, be careful, they are slippery. #3 has rocks but they are also slippery. I personally enjoy the creek crossings. Don’t fret over these, they are not serious. |
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Hazardous Areas: |
Be cautious on all bridges. I have fallen through the first one countless times. The rest of them are sturdy but can be slippery. Be cautious of all logs and rocks in the creek. They are slippery and can be loose. |
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Bathrooms: |
There will be one port-a-potty at the start/finish. There are men’s and women’s outhouses just after the first aid station (mile 2.5) and just before the finish (mile 9.6). The 2nd bathroom is close to the start/finish (approximately .4 miles). |
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Note: |
The course will be well marked and you shouldn’t have any problems finding your way around the 10-mile loop. Enjoy the day and best of luck. |
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Aid Stations: |
The start/finish aid station (#1) will have water, vitamin water, All-Sport, soda, bagels, raisins, oranges, bananas, cookies, M&Ms. chips, pretzels, licorice, sandwiches, Vaseline, aspirin, and some surprises later in the race. #2 will be primarily water and some goodies and #3 will be fairly well stocked but not as loaded as the start/finish. You will be able to get fruit, pretzels or chips, soda, cookies, and water. |
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Packet pick up: |
I will be spending my day at the park marking the trail. You may be able to catch me out there. Feel free to come out and get a feel for the trail and it's condition. Race day packet pick up will begin at 4:00 a.m. and will go until 5:45 a.m. |
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Feel free to contact me if you have any questions. |
Andy Weinberg |
| Almanac information for April 16th in the Peoria area: |
Sun Rise: 6:18 a.m. Sun Set: 7:39 p.m. Normal High Temp: 62 Normal Low Temp: 40 Record High Temp: 92 Record Low Temp: 14 Average Monthly April Rainfall: 3.56" First quarter Moon on 4-16-2005: 9:37 a.m. Central Daylight Time Phase of the Moon on 4-17-2005: waxing gibbous with 60% of the Moon’s visible disk illuminated |
| Elevation Gain: | The elevation gain per 10 mile lap is 1,600 feet. |
| Walking Division: | All athletes entering the walking division are expected to walk the entire way. Anyone who wants to mix in small amounts of running or jogging should enter the race as a runner and not as a walker.For this race, “walking” will be defined as “a progression of steps in which there is one point of contact on the ground at all times”. Racewalking is permitted, but legal racewalking is not required. Walkers will receive different colored bibs and any walker caught running will be disqualified from the walking race. Due to the nature of this race there will not be any judges on the course; adhering to the rules will be a “peer pressure/honor system” situation. Of course this is a trail race with typical trail obstacles (stream crossings, roots, rocks, gorges, etc.) which may require isolated incidents of jumping, climbing etc. Also, there may be some brief periods of unavoidable “loss of contact” toward the bottom of some of the steeper downhills. In such situations, the walker is expected to resume walking as soon as possible; remember this is the “honor system”. |
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