New Hampton, IA

Run time: 57:10.5 + 2-minute kick

This was an ultimate rural run. I ran around the perimeter of a newly-mown corn field, mostly in the corn field itself. Turns out if you stay in the space between the rows (now rows of corn stalk stubble), you can run just fine. There is some harvest debris, but it is soft and does not impede. But first some notes on the drive.

Some businesses do not have the time, energy, or inclination to distrust their neighbors. Northern Illinois Tractor & Equipment is one of those businesses. The note on their sign – Feel free to walk in when closed – warmed my heart. My default setting is to trust – I would rather trust someone until they act in an untrustworthy manner, rather than make them earn the trust. That does not mean I do not take precautions, but it is sometimes more trouble than it’s worth to distrust. Sometimes (probably often) people lie to you and it causes no harm. Would you engage in any chicanery on the property of Northern Illinois Tractor & Equipment after reading this sign? Hell, no.

I do not remember which town in Wisconsin I was in when I saw this beautiful old church across from the gas station I stopped at, but it was a sight to see.

Just west of Dubuque I stopped at the Field of Dreams movie site and took photos, read passages of dialogue, and bought Baseballism merch. The field looks smaller in real life. The house was magnificent. They are building multiple baseball diamonds around it, probably to host tournaments.

Back to the run.

There are not many running options in New Hampton, if you are going to stick to standard options like roads, sidewalks, and trails. The corn field was right behind my hotel. There is a school not far from there, and initially I thought perhaps I could walk along the edge of the field to the school, to avoid walking along the busy main road.

When I got near the school, however, there was a field of tall vegetation that did not seem amenable to running, nor to any bi-pedal activity. So I just kept running along the perimeter of the field.

It was windy and cool, but enjoyable. There are few motor vehicles in a corn field, so no engine exhaust. At one point I ran along the freeway, but I was a good hundred feet away. I imagine the passing motorists were wondering why the hell someone was jogging in a corn field.

This is exactly the kind of low-fi running experience that exercises and nourishes the complete entity. Has anyone ever run around this, or any, corn field? Why follow the well-marked path? Why not make the path?

As I got close to the main road, a little south of the hotel, an actual dirt road greeted me. That was a little nicer to run on. When I come back here while the corn is growing, I will probably head there and do some circuits up and down the road.

A creek ran between the field and the road. I jumped deer a few times as I ran along it.

The road turned and followed the creek down to a very nice house – probably the property owner for the fields. Unless these fields are all owned by some corporation that sues small farmers who reuse seed from their own field that has been infiltrated by the corporation’s patented seed.

In my West Wing re-watch, I just watched the campaign episode in which Arnold Vinick (Alan Alda) admits in a speech at the Iowa primary that ethanol is a bad idea. I wish Vinick had won. His character was the greatest Republican presidential candidate of all time.

Only a few more runs left before the fall time change, and I will not be able to embark on a run like this when I get to the hotel, because it will be too dark. Or at least, I will not be able to get good photos.

The next morning there was frost on the car, and I met some friends at our top distributor, headquartered in this small, sleepy prairie town.

When I got back to the hotel parking lot, the best scenery of all awaited: a magnificent cloudy sunset sky.