Michael, Author at Run Mi 5k

February 27, 2021September 4, 2023

Lake

Lake County Run

There really wasn’t a plan for this county. It just happened that we were driving to Newaygo for our Nephew’s adoption party of Tia, our newest addition to the family. I’m planning to run Newaygo County next Thursday so I wanted to plan a different county today. Lisa was with me so she had to wait in the car while I ran this… She will probably get tired of this before the end.

Here are some picks of the family!!

Lake County

Baldwin
Chase
Cherry Valley
Dover
Eden
Elk
Ellsworth
Lake
Luther
Newkirk
Peacock
Pinora
Pleasant Plains
Sauble
Sweetwater
Webber
Yates

Any place in Bold and Red are townships / towns /cities I’ve run a 5k for the county run (or the closest city to my county run) Any place in Bold and Blue are townships / towns / cities I’ve run anytime in the past. Any place in Bold and Green are townships / towns / cities I’ve done website / hosting / design work – best website builder for small business – WordPress design hosting and search engine optimization. I’m a small business website builder – contact me to get a website that works! If no Green color is on this page, please talk with me (Click Here). I’ll be encouraged to change one to Green!

February 20, 2021September 13, 2022

California trip to meet my granddaughter, Avery

I ran a 5k every other day on my trip to California to meet my granddaughter, Avery. It was near the last few weeks of winter in Michigan and was great to getaway. I had a plan to knock off a Michigan county first thing in the morning on the 9th and then take a shower at the truck stop (finish driving to Chicago and then fly on to California. Lisa and I have not been around ANY people for the past few weeks because we wanted to make sure we were COVID-free meeting our granddaughter. Lisa didn’t want to stop at a truck stop because of this. Also, the flight was early, so that also caused an issue. I’m so glad we didn’t because we ended up getting a flat tire which caused a minor hiccup.
So I decided to do a run when we got into LA.
It looks like I have six runs done now, and it’s Saturday. I think I’ll get one or two more done before we fly out on Tuesday. The return will be rough when we get a run in Michigan again because it will be dark. Also, because of the flat tire that blew out on the way down. However, I would like to give it a try; I would love to get another Michigan County down. I have now run a 5k every other day (except for the times I do a longer run and take two days off) for one year and five months. Running this last year is by far the most consistent I’ve ever been in my life.
Monday Night Note:
I finished my 8th LA 5k tonight. It was a night run. I decided to do one tonight because we are flying out tomorrow, and I didn’t want to rush to get to the airport. Upon return, we will need to fix my tire when we get into Chicago; then we will have to head home; I’m guessing around 8 p.m. It will be a 7-hour drive home so, I don’t know if we will get another county done. I want to stop and do one, but it will be dark when Lisa and I get back to Michigan. So we’ll see, but it would be great to make this trip allow me to complete at least one lower county of Michigan.

January 20, 2021January 2, 2024

Kent

Kent County Run

Parked at the hotel in Downtown Grand Rapids.

Started running down the street. Being January 20 it sure was clear of snow on a lot of the sidewalks. Normally in mid December we would have over a foot of snow.

I was surprised how empty the streets were. Normally there would be a ton of cars.

So I just ran for a while and really didn’t have a plan. Just started running in whatever direction until I had about a mile and a half, then turned around and started heading back.

This photo was of the smoke in front of the sun… It was extremely bright and I thought it would make a cool picture.

Found this guy and three others in a back alley.

Loved the artwork on this building.

Always construction going on.

Beautiful church.

Ran by Mercy Hospital.

Started getting into a residential strip of road.

I need to learn how to get my fingers away from the lens. A little more snow in this area than downtown, but still light covering for mid January.

More houses.

Then back in town. What a great run!

It is is my new plan to knock this county off on the 20th of January. My step-father is going to get surgery on his ear and I am going down to Kent County to support my mother and family. My son Alex is planning on going with me and said he might run too! This makes me so happy and I can’t wait! It has been a while since I’ve ran outside so I don’t know how well the conditions will be, being the middle of January, but it should be doable…

Kent County

Ada
Algoma
Alpine
Bowne
Byron
Caledonia
Cannon
Cascade
Casnovia
Cedar Springs
Courtland
East Grand Rapids
Gaines
Grand Rapids
Grand Rapids
Grandville
Grattan
Kent City
Kentwood
Lowell
Nelson
Oakfield
Plainfield
Rockford
Sand Lake
Solon
Sparta
Spencer
Tyrone
Vergennes
Walker
Wyoming

Any place in Bold and Red are townships / towns / cities I’ve run a 5k for the county run (or the closest city to my county run)

Any place in Bold and Blue are townships / towns / cities I’ve run anytime in the past.

Any place in Bold and Green are townships / towns / cities I’ve done website / hosting / design work – best website builder for small business – WordPress design hosting and search engine optimization. I’m a small business website builder – contact me to get a website that works! If no Green color is on this page, please talk with me (Click Here). I’ll be encouraged to change one to Green!

December 19, 2020September 4, 2023

Chippewa

Chippewa County Run

I thought it was cold for yesterdays run… This run was even colder.

A look at the big Lake from the Cabin!

Just after completing My Cheboygan County run I continued driving up to the cabin. This picture was taken the morning before the Chippewa County run.

Thank you Mel for giving me a ride so I didn’t have to do an out and back for this run!

A look at South pond completely iced over.

On the corner with South Pond to the left and businesses to the right.

There is a few residential houses in this reservation land area.

Long straight away with a light dusting of snow.

More of the same. I probably only passed 8 cars on this entire run… But in the summertime this road would be 5 times that amount of traffic… at least!

Lighthouse view from the road.

Looking at the Lake in front of the Lighthouse!

Light house about a mile away from my finish.

Just finished my run… A little bit of sweat and boy do I look cold. Sure wish I had worn my hat and gloves on this run.

Back at the Cabin. Such a very cool place! A little cold today!

Update12/19/21: Was up at the cabin and ran this county on a very cold day! 18° Went up there for a family Christmas party/get together.

Update: 1/13/21: So this was planned next along with Emmet County, but here is the deal. I lost employment with a company that I had worked with for 28 years. Along with the COVID pandemic, it was made difficult to plan a trip up to the cabin… This will be a county I hit soon, but I’ve changed it over to “NOT planned next” because of the circumstances.

This is going to be an easy county. It’s one I’ve ran so many times in the past. My parents own a cabin on Lake Superior in Brimley, so it will be nice to visit there and get this run done. Will also be super fun to introduce Melody to the cabin and I’m so excited because I’ve spent a lot of time up there in the past. Also nice that this could be a breaking point for the runs that I do in the counties out west of here. Also thinking I can knock a few counties down on my return trips. So looking forward to this county. Will probably just run along Lakeshore Drive but we’ll see. Hoping Creig (my step-dad) will run this on with me.

This plan got pushed back a couple of weeks. It looks like this might happen mid-September now. (now it’s mid-October and this still isn’t complete.) I will try to finish this one before the end of 2020, but not sure when. I’ve had difficulties that I’m addressing currently to get back on track. Can’t wait!

Chippewa County

Bay Mills
Brimley
Bruce
Chippewa
Dafter
Detour
DeTour Village
Drummond
Hulbert
Kinross
Pickford
Raber
Rudyard
Sault Ste. Marie
Soo
Sugar Island
Superior
Trout Lake
Whitefish

Any place in Bold and Red are townships / towns / cities I’ve run a 5k for the county run (or the closest city to my county run)

Any place in Bold and Blue are townships / towns / cities I’ve run anytime in the past.

November 8, 2020September 19, 2022

Run Farther!

I’ve done several 4 mile runs, one 5 mile run, but on Nov 7, I decided to take it to the next level and get my first 10k accomplished in over seven years. When I was training for my half marathons, I used to run this particular route often. I remember being able to complete it in about an hour. 1:04 seems to ring a bell. But today, I did it in 1:17, which isn’t that far off.

This painted RR on the Tart Trail marks my turnaround point. (photo below). It’s where the Railroad tracks crossed the Tart Trail. But I remember the very first time I ran this run on the TT and noticed where it said RXR it had worn away to “PR”. In running, PR is short for (personal record), and I thought it was so lovely to see “PR” every time I would run this route. It was the perfect turnaround point.

I want to run a full marathon someday, but I need to finish this county-run challenge before taking on the marathon challenge. But I really would like to check off the full marathon (Run Farther) before I “go”.

Author: Michael