Yesterday, I ran 3.3 miles at Washington Park in Springfield, IL. I wanted to run further but was in the middle of a 5 hour drive (more like 6.5 hours with traffic) and didn’t want to get to Chicago too late. I ran at the park a few years ago when I was in Springfield for training for work for a week and it was my favorite place to run in the city.

At the park there is a large pond with numerous geese, swans, and ducks, a rose garden, clock tower, (with bells that ring every 15 minutes), botanical garden, and rain demonstration garden (not sure what that means). The botanical garden has very nice bathrooms with drinking fountains. There is also a nearby golf course and unpaved nature trails.

There are several Strava segments at and around the park. I tried going for a bunch of them, but ended up only running three.

It was a short but good excursion and excuse to stop driving for half an hour on my trip!