Illinois Valley Striders Half Marathon

Set for its annual event this year, the Illinois Valley Striders Half Marathon is something of a curiosity, an unusual animal among road races -- though it starts in one of the city's urban parks, much of the race is run through the grounds of Peoria's Springdale Cemetery, which lies right next door to the park. Thanks to the cemetery's very hilly terrain, the race is also challenging and tough -- it's even been described as "brutal" by some past participants.The IVS Half Marathon / Relay starts at the Michael Sonnemaker Sculpture & Garden in lower Glen Oak Park and continues through historic Springdale Cemetery.

Set for its annual event this year, the Illinois Valley Striders Half Marathon is something of a curiosity, an unusual animal among road races -- though it starts in one of the city's urban parks, much of the race is run through the grounds of Peoria's Springdale Cemetery, which lies right next door to the park. Thanks to the cemetery's very hilly terrain, the race is also challenging and tough -- it's even been described as "brutal" by some past participants.The IVS Half Marathon / Relay starts at the Michael Sonnemaker Sculpture & Garden in lower Glen Oak Park and continues through historic Springdale Cemetery.

Starting in Lower Glen Oak Park, which lies adjacent to the cemetery, the race begins an out-and-back 6.5-mile loop course that participants run twice through the manicured and tree-lined grounds of Springdale.The race’s most significant hills occur at about the second- and fourth-mile markers of the race (which runners will see again around miles 9 and 11), and feature steep inclines.The race is run on paved surfaces throughout the course, which alternately narrows and widens as it winds through the cemetery. Along the course, tombstones and memorials of every variety make for interesting (to say the least) scenery to pass the miles.