Potawatomi Trail Runs

Rugged 10M loop following the Potowatomi Trail. Features 3 creek xings, numerous hills, challenging single track trails, and open field trails. 100% trail. 1600′ elev change per loop. Mcnaughton park.

Do you think Illinois is all flat cornfields? Wise ultra-runners will get some serious hill training in before coming to Pekin’s McNaughton Park! We don’t have mountains in Illinois … just a few rolling hills with elevator shaft downhills guaranteed to warm your quads on a chilly April evening. Here’s how one satisfied customer described the terrain: ‘I now know why Illinois is so flat. They took all the hills that are supposed to be there and put them ALL into one spot in Pekin, IL … and called it ‘McNaughton Park’.”

How about the view? One of our previous participants described it this way: “It’s one of the most scenic courses I know: Mostly singletrack, forest with some meadows, hills with beautiful valleys in between. Lots of flowers and wildlife. At dawn, when I came to the 3rd creek crossing, thousands of birds were singing, frogs were ‘talking’ everywhere, wild geese above me were chatting, and several Whitetail Deer crossing the trail.”

“… comparing the high altitude, long climbs of the Western mountains to McNaughton hills is like comparing being eaten by a shark vs. being eaten by a 1000 piranhas … both are unpleasant … just in different ways.”