Michael, Author at Run Mi 5k

August 21, 2022January 7, 2024

Oakland County Special Offer!

Special offer for Marketing Results or online advertising

As you reach the end of this page, it becomes clear that I haven’t taken on any projects related to website design, hosting, SVG Art or advertising (including Facebook advertising, Google Ads, and social media promotion) for clients in this county. For an exclusive offer tailored to the first business to engage my services, please refer to the bottom of this page. I am enthusiastic about extending the same level of marketing success that I’ve achieved for numerous small businesses across Michigan to a deserving enterprise in Troy, Clarkston, or any city in Oakland County. Your business could be the next to benefit from my proven expertise. Thank you for considering a potential partnership, and I look forward to delivering impactful marketing results for your business. I’ve previously done design services with esteemed companies like Tyson, Unilever, and Stellantis. My presentations have been presented at renowned corporations such as Tesla, GM, Volvo, Ford, and may others, some multiple times. Rest assured, my expertise in the field is backed by a track record of successful collaborations.

Oakland County, MI Run

Welcome to my journey through Oakland County, a place that holds a special place in my heart, as my birthplace. In the sections below, you’ll find details of my county run and the cities I’ve yet to highlight in BOLD and GREEN.

I was starting the run and thinking about the whole situation. I had just left cousin Linda’s beautiful home that her dad built. Her family has taken this home and done a bunch of upgrades, and it is so cool seeing a home stay in the family. This side of the family had 13 kids, eight boys, and five girls. So you can only imagine how many cousins I have.

Almost to the end of Linda’s road, ahead is John R road.

I took this photo facing north.

This photo I believe is facing South.

Way up ahead is Wattles Rd. I’m amazed at these photos because the traffic seemed at the time to be bumper to bumper for the whole run. However, there are several photos where the street appears empty.

My support team passed me in my sister’s fancy Cadillac. What a fantastic car, and what a tremendous support crew!

I was looking down Rochester Rd. When I was born, I lived on this road until I was about three years old. My grandparent’s home was even farther down the road along with my Aunt Vicki’s home. She is still there, but my grandparent’s house was gone, and they were building what looked like apartments or something, and my original home had also been torn down and replaced with one closer to the road.

I was looking back east on Wattles Rd. My sister was parked at the two-mile mark, and I passed her and told her I would meet her in another mile. She told me that she passed me 3 or 4 times. What a support crew! Thank you, Vicki and Lisa, and I’m sorry I had to ask that you do this.

I am continuing down the road to the west. Honestly, the road was MUCH busier than the pictures all indicate. This is coming from a TC guy who doesn’t see cars until the cherry festival.

Here is probably around the 2.5-mile area. There was a solid wall of trees on the right side.

What a beautiful area, again NO cars. The people looking at my well designed website will not believe how busy it the roads were!

There was a little creek that ran across the road toward the end of my run. My sisters parked at the 3 mile mark so I had to run .5 past them and then return to the car.

Me, my sister Vicki and my sister Lisa. Strange that we hardly ever get all three of us alone but together. So great to have a picture of us all old. Below is a picture in front of Lisa’s house. It looks like we need to redo the roof soon! Thanks, Vicki and Lisa, for all the support. I love you.

I love you too, Aunt Kim!

This weekend was supposed to be the Ottawa run. I planned to run that county with my boss and meet with a previous co-worker, but unfortunately, I got some terrible news. My aunt Kim (the youngest aunt on my dad’s side) had passed. This passing was so shocking. So my sisters and I (pictured above – Lisa and Vicki) headed to Troy, MI, for the funeral. I wanted to run two counties while I was down there, but the whole trip, the heat, and the thoughts of my aunt while on the run made me change my mind and finish this one county. The day was a hard one – both mentally and physically. One very positive thing was being able to see my aunts, uncles, and cousins, whom I rarely get to see. THAT was heartwarming. I hope this is the last MI run that will remind me of a funeral. However, I might change my mind because when I look back at all the runs, I’m amazed how pictures and notes bring back so many memories. So we’ll see.

Be the First Small Business from this County to work with me – Advertising, Website Design, Hosting, Social Media Marketing, whatever!

In my professional endeavors, I have not undertaken any marketing, website development, or advertising projects with individuals or businesses in Oakland County before. To express my commitment to the local community, I am offering a 50% reduction in my standard fee for the initial two hours of services to the first small business that reaches out to me from this county. I am eager for the opportunity to conduct a website audit, create Facebook or Google ads, and generate compelling content to contribute to the growth of the first business to engage with me. Please be the first business from this county that I can impress with my skills.

Oakland County

Addison
Auburn Hills
Berkley
Beverly Hills
Bingham Farms
Birmingham
Bloomfield
Bloomfield Hills
Brandon
Clawson
Commerce
Farmington
Farmington Hills
Fenton
Ferndale
Franklin
Groveland
Hazel Park
Highland
Holly
Huntington Woods
Independence
Keego Harbor
Lake Angelus
Lake Orion
Lathrup Village
Leonard
Lyon
Madison Heights
Milford
Novi
Oakland
Oak Park
Orchard Lake Village
Orion
Ortonville
Oxford
Pleasant Ridge
Pontiac
Rochester
Rochester Hills
Rose
Royal Oak
Southfield
South Lyon
Springfield
Sylvan Lake
Troy
Village of Clarkston
Walled Lake
Waterford
West Bloomfield
White Lake
Wixom
Wolverine Lake

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!

June 9, 2022September 3, 2023

Clinton

Clinton, County a run in Eureka, MI.

Here is a photo I took near where I was planning to run. I was happy to see turkeys out in the fields.

I parked my car on the Northeast side of the route.

The blue sky is heading west on the northern road of the route—what a beautiful day.

I was looking toward the north across the road.

Towards the south, I saw some cows.

Another big field!

Not sure why I took this photo, but I love the vegetation behind that chunky guy!

The sky was just amazing that day and there looked to be another giant field behind those trees.

I am finally heading south after a mile run. This dirt road on the west side was the same as the road on the east side of this run—a half-mile in length.

A little down this road, I ran across these big birds at the top of the tree.

A big field in the background, I’m not 100% sure where it was located, but it was a fantastic site with a boat load of deer in the field.

About six red-wing blackbirds attacked me. These didn’t hit me because I’ve learned my lesson before. Simply pay attention to them.

Here are more turkeys out in the field.

The two photos above might be out of order as they look like first-light photos.

An animal ran across the road here; I think I’m heading east on the southernmost part of my run.

After completing this run, I completed three

5k runs (9.3 miles) in about 16 hours. St. Clair County, Lapeer County, and This one (Clinton County)

Today’s run is planned for Thursday’s drive back to work. I ran two counties yesterday, Wednesday the 8th – St. Clair and Lapeer counties. It was mostly just a west drive from Davidson, and it was the perfect morning. There was a bit of light rain, but not horrible.

Clinton County

Bath

Bengal

Bingham

Dallas

DeWitt

Deplane

Eagle

East Lansing

Eureka

Elsie

Essex

Fowler

Greenbush

Hubbardston

Lansing Capital

Lebanon

Maple Rapids

Olive

Ovid

Riley

St. Johns

Victor

Watertown

Westphalia

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.

June 8, 2022September 3, 2023

St. Clair

St. Clair County was run on June 8, 2022

This week’s venture started the day before, on a Tuesday. I convinced my brother-in-law to please show me the “Dragon” trail in Newaygo. I told him we had to take it easy because I planned to do three 5k runs in the following two days: St Clair, Lapeer, and Clinton.

It was such a great ride, and I had fun, but I had one spill that messed my arm up and threw my shoulder out of place.

So, the next day I had to drive across the state to get to St Clair. It was a great trip, but gas prices for this trip were $5.18. I also started to think that what if I get to this county and I’m unable to do the run because of shoulder pain. I was worried.

Finally, make it there about 25 minutes late. I sent a text to my Uncle Mark that agreed to give me a night over at his place. Thank you SO much, Mark (and Aunt Judy)! I parked at the Dollar General and started heading North.

I made a left (west) at the first street and ran down this dirt road. It was slightly raining at this time.

Once I made it to the business with the water tower, I headed North. I’ve struggled to match the planned routes because sometimes it’s hard to see my phone because of the sun. But today, it wasn’t bad.

I was heading north on the western road a little slow because I didn’t want to overdo it, but also fast because I was running late. I had very mixed feelings about this run.

I passed what looked like a ball field in the distance. I love this time of year.

I ran back to the east and met up with the main road through town. I took this photo at the northernmost tip of the town where I ran. My shoulder wasn’t hurting and I was have a very good run.

Heading south on the main drag.

I am starting to get into the central part of town.

Here I was running east to meet up with the next road to the east.

Here is where I headed east at the southernmost part of town.

I am heading back north.

At the northernmost part of this run, there was a beautiful church. I ran east here and then turned south.

I think this is heading south on the most eastern part of the run.

There was a cool-looking old home that needed some attention. I’d love to know the history of this home.

I was getting almost to the southernmost part of the east side of town.

There were grain silos over here.

This photo is looking west down the railroad bed.

Heading west down what I think was called Hill St. Back toward the Dollar General. It wasn’t too slow, wasn’t too fast. Glad it went well because I didn’t want to tell my Uncle that it would be an even later arrival.

Driving to Lapeer, I took this dorky picture. To show the amount of rain that fell on my head.

This was simply planned out of just trying to find a route through a town. It turned out to be perfect! The amount of traffic I had to deal with was great and I was able to follow the map very well with the roads clearly marked. Thank you Capac!

St. Clair County

Berlin
Brockway
Burtchville
Capac
Casco
China
Clay
Clyde
Columbus
Cottrellville
East China
Emmett
Fort Gratiot
Grant
Greenwood
Ira
Kenockee
Kimball
Lynn
Marine City
Marysville Memphis
Mussey
Port Huron
Riley
Richmond
Wales
Yale

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.

June 8, 2022September 3, 2023

Lapeer

So after running Capac in St. Clair county. I headed over to Lapeer. This church was one of the things that drew my eye.

This gentleman was watching over me as I ran by his house. His female owner peaked around the bushes to tell me it was okay; I wasn’t in danger. I told her I had taken a picture of her protector! Very cool dog!

I took this photo because of the brick wall. I love brick walls that are shaped like this. I also loved the gate. Such a cool look!

Here was a park I passed at the south side of the lake. I tried but just couldn’t see the lake.

I was towards the southwest side and saw this massive water tower.

Across this super busy road, there was this Hospital… or business.

Once I ran north, I saw the water tower up close. I was hoping to see the lake, but nothing.

I was more toward the North end of this super busy Hwy 24.

Up way ahead is the light where I turn east on Davis Lake Rd.

This was probably Davis Lake Rd, but I’m not 100% sure.

I remember passing this house that looked nice with the lawn taken care of in a simple but complete manner.

I think this was the northernmost section of North Saginaw St. on my path. Looking across the road – Beautiful fields.

I am running South on a steady Rd. But not as busy as the one on the west side. I’m also super bummed that I seen the lake that was pictured on the map.

A little past the halfway point, I saw a community that looked like they had lakefront property, and I was getting excited to see it finally. But when I turned in it wasn’t quite what I expected. It was a trailer park.

As I ran through this trailer park, I was impressed by the people out and about. It showed well-taken care of lots. It turned out to be a very pleasant neighborhood.

I got back on the main Saginaw Rd heading south and was SO bummed that I never saw the lake, and I was pretty much done with most of this run.

Then I passed a running trail heading west! It wasn’t on my map, but it looked like it was headed toward the lake. I decided to take a gamble and run down this path.

Here was the path!

The above photo is of the lake!

Once done taking pictures, I headed south towards my car. So glad to have TWO five ks done.

Once done, I went to my Uncle Mark’s home and was greeted by my Aunt Judy, Uncle Mark, and my cousin Christine was there too with her family! We ate dinner and spoke for the rest of the night. I could kick myself for not getting photos of everyone. But the following day, I took this photo of me and Uncle Mark before taking off before 6 am to do the next 5k (Clinton County).

My aunt and uncle are so talented. My uncle built this home and my aunt Judy does all kinds of crafts: painting needlework, quilting, etc. It was so cool to see all her creations! My uncle Mark also makes all kinds of things out of wood. Frames, bird houses, animals, you name it!

Thank you so much for your hospitality!

The plan was to try and get a 5k around this lake then head to my Uncle Marks house.

Lapeer County

Almont
Arcadia
Attica
Brown City
Burlington
Burnside
Capac
Clifford
Columbiaville
Deerfield
Dryden
Elba
Goodland
Hadley
Imlay
Imlay City
Lapeer
Marathon
Mayfield
Metamora
North Branch
Oregon
Otter Lake
Rich

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.

May 6, 2022September 3, 2023

Hillsdale

Hillsdale County, MI Run

I decided to do a second run today because my second run went so well yesterday. After staying the night in Washtenaw County and running that county, I headed over to do Hillsdale to do the final county touching the southernmost part of Michigan.

I found this lake on the map that looked like it would be a great run and about a 5k in size. The close roads don’t go 100% around the lake. But this lake had plenty of routes not to make this an out and back. When I stepped out of the car, my legs hurt, and I was afraid that this would be too much, but I’ve experienced this before and remember it’s always the starts of runs and finishes that are brutal. After about a half-mile, I was just fine.

A very similar picture to the first one but shows more of the lake.

I ran to the west end of the lake.

There was a creek heading into the lake above. The stream was near my turnaround point.

The photo above is looking north on the west end of the lake.

Here is a photo looking south of the lake, with many open areas.

It looked like there were all kinds of real estate development. I started thinking about my journey with this goal through MI. I was thinking about all the homes I’ve passed and that every single home is being cared for by a family. I thought about the mortgage on each house, the maintenance, and the history of the families. The area was a bit upscale community compared to many lakes I ran around. I wondered about how much the homes were valued.

I was thinking about how much these houses sold for around the lake. I guessed around 400k. Maybe more because of the proximity to Detroit. I wasn’t sure.

These houses are packed in pretty tight to the water, and there wasn’t much room to see the lake. Each home is about the same in appearance, with nice toys surrounding each home.

Even the homes off the water seemed to be in a similar price range.

Near the end of my run was this lake shot, uninterrupted by as many homes.

After this run finished, I completed 12.4 miles of running in around 15 hours. Now I had about four hours to get home. The biggest challenge of this goal is NOT the running. It is for sure the driving. The photo above was an accident that had me waiting for a long spell. It sucks to be driving at five mph in a 75mph zone, knowing you have hours of driving left. As bad as that accident looked, it seemed that everyone was okay.

A big part of the reason I decided to knock this county down on this trip was that with the hotel room and gas prices being so high, I decided that I didn’t want to HAVE to make the trip again so far south. This price is the most I’ve ever spent to fill up a car. So after my two runs the night before, I thought I should plan another run and knock off Hillsdale on this trip. Ten hours later, as I write this, I’m SO glad I did. As sore as I am, this was a great decision, and I’d do it again in a heartbeat! (well, several)

Hillsdale County

Adams
Allens
Amboys
Cambrias
Camdens
Fayettes
Hillsdales
Jeffersons
Jonesvilles
Litchfields
Montgomerys
Moscows
North Adamss
Pittsfords
Ransoms
Readings
Scipios
Somerset
Waldrons
Wheatlands
Woodbridges
Wrights

Any place in Bold and Red are townships / towns / cities I’ve run a 5k in the past. (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.

Author: Michael

Oakland County Special Offer!

Special offer for Marketing Results or online advertising

Be the First Small Business from this County to work with me – Advertising, Website Design, Hosting, Social Media Marketing, whatever!

Oakland County

Clinton

Clinton County

St. Clair

St. Clair County

Lapeer

Lapeer County

Hillsdale

Hillsdale County

I'd like to hear from you!

McCatty websites

Contact