Bond County

In my continuing quest to run a race in all 102 Illinois counties, I ran the Panther 5k in Bond County today. I was very pleasantly surprised.
To be honest, this was not my first choice for a race this week-end, but there aren't a lot of races in Bond County, so I wanted to make sure I got one in. In fact, Bond County had been on my list of counties that didn't have races, so I was happy when I learned about this race a couple of weeks ago. I had originally planned on running the Pinckneyville Classic 8K in Perry County this week-end but will try for that race next year. St. Clair and Clinton counties also had races today and at one point I even looked into seeing if I could get in two races in one morning. I decided I couldn't.
I was expecting the Panther 5K to be something like the Race to Downtown in Vandalia, in neighboring Fayette County. That race, which I ran this summer, was kind of a bust, with a small turnout and not a lot of enthusiasm. For the Panther 5K, I found a race with around 140 runners and a lot of enthusiasm from the students of Greenville College, which sponsored the race as part of their homecoming.
The cost of the race was only $15 and included a very nice long sleeved t-shirt with a simple design. I really liked the shirt. It was a cold morning but runners could wait and stretch inside the student union, as well as use the bathroom facilities, which was nice.
The actual race itself was so-so. It got off to a quick start, before I even knew which direction we were running. They didn't have a lot of traffic control and two blocks into the run a car just drove down the road, parting the runners. Also, the course went through the east side of town, whereas I would have preferred running more around campus and certainly around the county courthouse square if it could have been done.
That said, it was still a very nice race. The course was flat with a couple of rolling hills in the middle that were no problem. My time was 24:58 and any time I beat 25 minutes in a 5k I am happy. After the race I had breakfast at a diner on the courthouse square. I got the special for $4.99 and the waitress called me hon. I love small town Illinois and Greenville is a very nice looking small town. All in all, I was very happy. Nice job Greenville College, especially with the shirt.
I've signed up to do the Beta Sigma Phi-ve K and half marathon (I'm doing the half) on November 8 in Flora (Clay County). If anyone is looking for a long race to finish the running year with, please join me in that half marathon. Flora is in Southeastern Illinois, a little south of Effingham. I also have plans to do the Pere Marquette Trail Run in December in Jersey County and that may finish my races for the year. I'm up to 25 Illinois counties so far and have run in 14 new counties this year.