Completed Counties Archives - Page 5 of 17

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.

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 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.

May 6, 2022September 3, 2023

Washtenaw

Washtenaw County Run, May 2022

So Thursday I completed both Lenawee and Monroe counties. Then went to a Hotel in Milan so I could complete one more county before heading home. After realizing how well those first two runs went, I decided while relaxing at the hotel that I would hit two counties today Washtenaw and Hillsdale

The area in Millan was residential, all but for Dexter St.; I loved that there were sidewalks everywhere, and I would not have to worry about cars.

I loved seeing the new growth on the trees at this point, the furthest west of the run.

It was drizzling, but it was a perfect temperature for a run. I wish every day running were like this.

Such a beautiful sping morning!

It was about 7 am, and the roads were bare. I probably only saw five moving cars on this run, except for Dexter Rd.

I loved how the sidewalk allowed for trees. There were several spots where the sidewalk permitted a tree, but the tree was gone.

The run went perfectly, and I had breakfast with a gentleman named “Fuzz.” Very interesting, and we had a friendly conversation. I was shocked when he talked about Williamsburg and the Sand Lakes Quiet area. It was apparent he knew about my home area. Later he asked if I freelanced; I think I should have cards to give out.

I had planned to stay in a hotel for the night to hit another run first thing in the morning before returning to work. I designed the route above the night before and followed it pretty closely. I didn’t run on Dexter Street as much because it was a bustling street. Other than that, it turned out to be the perfect path. Once this one is complete, I’ll be heading over to Hillsdale county to do the last county I have to do on the southern MI border.

Washtenaw County

Ann Arbor
Augusta
Barton Hills
Bridgewater
Chelsea
Dexter
Freedom
Lima
Lodi
Lyndon
Milan
Manchester
Northfield
Pittsfield
Salem
Saline
Scio
Sharon
Superior
Sylvan
Webster
York
Ypsilanti

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 5, 2022January 2, 2024

Monroe

Monroe County Run

After completing Lenawee County, I wanted to get Monroe done before dark. As I was driving over to Monroe, it started to rain.

It was so nice to see sidewalks on the side of the road. There were places on this run without sidewalks, and I wouldn’t say I like running on roads in towns.

Northwest corner of the run.

Across the road, it looked like a school.

In the distance, I could hear the sounds of baseball! I could barely see what was going on, but I loved hearing the sounds of bats, balls, and excited players!

Down the road was a very nice community!

Lots of businesses. Part of my run went through an industrial park.

Then wide open areas to the south looking east.

Again it was raining on this run.

…but not hard. It looked like a pleasant community.

Wabesh Rd was a bigger road, and it had train tracks running right alongside.

At the southernmost east side of the run was Asher Pass Very nice little area.

It was great seeing flowering trees.

Back on Allen Rd heading northwest, this was a busy street, and it was nice to have sidewalks again.

I think this was heading north on Anderson St.

Almost back to my car heading west on Canfield St.

Post 10K photo! Two counties (Lenawee and Monroe.) Time to eat and find my hotel. What’s funny is I had packed two pairs of running pants, but I didn’t pack my running shirts. I had to wear a dress shirt for these two runs. I went to the dollar store and bought two t-shirts for my next two runs.

What drew me to this place was a town with a hotel near the northernmost part of this county. I was super excited when I saw the lake because it looked like a 5k run around the lake. Once I double-checked, half the lake was in another county. So I had to change over to another route completely in Monroe County. Below is a photo of the lake to the north of my run. I couldn’t see it from the run, but I finally saw it on Wabash St after my run was complete.

Monroe County

Ash
Bedford
Berlin
Carleton
Dundee
Erie
Estral Beach
Exeter
Flat Rock
Frenchtown
Ida
La Salle
London
Luna Pier
Maybee
Milan
Monroe
Petersburg
Raisinville
South Rockwood
Summerfield
Whiteford

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.

Category: Completed Counties

St. Clair

St. Clair County

Lapeer

Lapeer County

Hillsdale

Hillsdale County

Washtenaw

Washtenaw County

Monroe

Monroe County

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