If there is an isolated county in Illinois, it is probably Calhoun County in the southwestern part of the state. Tucked between the Illinois and Mississippi rivers some 35 miles north of Alton, Calhoun County's long eastern border consists entirely of the Illinois River and it is only accessible by one bridge and two car ferries.
It is one of the three smallest counties in Illinois in terms of population. Hardin, the county seat and largest town, has a population of 1,000 and the county as a whole has a population of less than 6,000.
It is difficult to find races in Calhoun County so when I learned a couple of weeks ago that there was a race in Hardin today, I dropped everything to run in it, as I continue my efforts to run a race in each of Illinois' 102 counties.
It turns out that today's Holler Hustle 5K was actually the third time they have run this race. I just had not found out about it until two weeks ago.
It is a nice little race held to benefit Calhoun High School. And, it actually was a little tougher than I expected for a 5K.
Starting at the high school, the course basically goes up a road and back down again. Because this is river country, the emphasis is "up" a road, as the first half of the race is uphill away from the river the whole way. Once past the turn around point, however, it all slopes downhill, so the second half of the race is rather enjoyable. And, although this was an absolutely beautiful day for running, there was a wind in your face for the entire first half that I didn't notice until the turn around point, when, after turning back, it was like, "wow, that's better."
My time ended up at 26:17. I really think I ran the race better than that, but I don't wear a watch or garmin, in part because more often than not I think the race clock goes in my favor for my actual time than against me and partly because I am cheap.
I've been to Calhoun County before but have never spent any time in Hardin. So, before the race today I drove around Hardin and after the race had breakfast at Mel's River Dock diner. It was very good.
On the drive in to Calhoun County, I took the Kampsville Car Ferry across the Illinois, the first time I have done that. I've taken the Brussels Car Ferry in southern Calhoun County before but never the Kampsville Ferry.
All in all, it was a good day. Calhoun County is the 58th county I have run in, as I seek to run a race in all 102 Illinois counties.