Author Archives: nicholaskemper

Pigtail Connector Trail Run Time: 32:08 Another lucky find in an unlikely place for a short run in the early evening after a long drive across Idaho. I had stops in Boise and Idaho Falls, with nothing in between, so rather than take I-84/I-86, I took a more direct route on US 20, the mostContinue reading “Dillon, MT”

North Idaho Centennial Trail Run Time: 62:07 + 2-minute kick A rainy day in Northern Idaho. It was just a drizzle as I started. The further I got away from the hotel, the harder it rained. It peaked at the turn-around point and then stayed steady all the way back. I got soaked. It tookContinue reading “Couer d’Alene, ID”

Unnamed Lake Trail Run Time: 61:51 No trail marked on the map, but there was a new cement trail all around this lake, only a block from the hotel. Running laps is boring, of course, but convenient. The grass alongside the trail was a little uneven, and my energy was low, so I stayed onContinue reading “Sheldon, IA”

Pheasant Ridge Trail Run Time 61:50 + 2-minute kick Alma is way down in south-central Nebraska, near the Kansas border. It is small. Subway is the only fast-food option. The Motel 8 was closer to a 4.5. I was not expecting to find a good place to run. But there was. A very well maintainedContinue reading “Alma, NE”

City Streets Run Time: 61:49 + 2-minute kick I started out with a plan to run at Central High School, which was only a half-mile or so from the hotel, but plans change. The football team was having practice, and half the team and the coaching staff were on the track, so even if someoneContinue reading “Omaha, NE”

Wilson Middle School Run Time: 61:48 + 2-minute kick The hotel and the neighborhood were not ideal. A lot of hotels are near a freeway, which does not help, but sometimes there is an additional level of dubiosity. A little more trash than necessary, a rock holding the hotel door open, weeds growing through cracksContinue reading “Cedar Rapids, IA”

Saller Woods Trails Run Time: 61:40 + 2-minute kick Burlington is a small community, and I was staying at another AmericInn, half of which was under construction. The desk clerk was nice, but it was her second day, and the credit card reader was not working, and she had to call her boss and getContinue reading “Burlington, WI”

Proviso West High School Run Time 61:38 + 2-minute kick Still stuck in Chicagoland. This was not a bad community. I cut through the back parking lot of a Best Buy or something similar, crossed the tracks, and zigzagged through a residential pocket to get to a gloriously empty high school track with cement grandstandsContinue reading “Hillside, IL”

Business Park Lake Loop Run Time: 61:36 + 2-minute kick Somewhat confined by the urban sprawl of the Chicago area, and trying to adhere to my policy of no driving to a run location, I settled on a paved path that looped around two man-made “lakes” in a business park a block away from theContinue reading “Tinley Park, IL”

Brebeuf Jesuit High School Run Time: 61:22 + 2-minute kick Another lucky find within walking distance of the hotel. I had to navigate some busy city streets at rush hour to get to the school, but it was an oasis. An upscale private high school with beautiful grounds and a new track. There was constructionContinue reading “Indianapolis, IN”