Running · Springfield, Illinois, USA · recorded with NomadTracks

Running Lincoln's Springfield: 8.8 km through the Illinois capital

Not every recorded track is wilderness. This one is a city: 8.8 flat kilometers through Springfield, Illinois — the state capital and Abraham Lincoln's hometown — recorded at an easy pace on an overcast June morning.

Just under an hour, the run threads from the south side up into downtown and past the landmarks Springfield is built around — the Railyard, the bronze Lincoln family, a five-story Lincoln mural, and the great cast-iron dome of the Illinois State Capitol — then back to where it started.

Distance8.8 km
Elevation gain4 m
ActivityRunning
Duration57 min

About this data: this track and its photos were personally shared with us as samples by a NomadTracks user. NomadTracks never uploads, collects or shares your tracks or photos — your recordings stay on your devices and in your own cloud.

Route map of Running Lincoln's Springfield: 8.8 km through the Illinois capital drawn from the recorded GPS points on an OpenStreetMap basemap
The actual recorded GPS track — start marked green, finish orange. Numbered pins mark where the photos below were taken.

Download GPX Coordinates, elevation and relative times — recording dates are normalized out, photos not included.

Elevation profile of the track
Elevation profile over the full distance. Switch the map above to interactive mode, then slide across the chart — a marker follows the route.

A run through Lincoln's city

Springfield wears its history on every block. The route passes the Lincoln family statue downtown — Abraham, Mary Todd and a son cast in bronze (a traffic cone borrowed for a hat the morning this was recorded) — and a towering Lincoln portrait mural a few streets on. For a flat city run, the scenery does a lot of the work.

The Capitol turnaround

The northern end of the run reaches the Illinois State Capitol, whose silver-grey dome actually stands taller than the dome of the United States Capitol. It makes a natural turnaround — and the recorded line shows exactly the out-and-back shape of a downtown route strung between landmarks.

Why record a city run

A flat road run is the quiet kind of track to record — no elevation drama, no navigation stakes. But the line is still the point: the exact route, the real pace, and a GPX that anyone could follow to tour Lincoln's Springfield on foot. The photos drop onto the map exactly where they were taken.

About the place: Springfield, Illinois, USA

Springfield is the capital of Illinois and the city most bound up with Abraham Lincoln, who lived and practiced law here for nearly a quarter-century before the presidency. Downtown holds the Lincoln Home National Historic Site, the Old State Capitol and the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum, with Lincoln's Tomb at Oak Ridge Cemetery to the north-west. The current Illinois State Capitol, completed in 1888, carries a dome that rises higher than the dome of the United States Capitol. Flat and walkable, the downtown is easy to tour on foot — or at a run.

The Railyard outdoor venue along a quiet Springfield street on an overcast morning
1 · The Railyard outdoor venue along a quiet Springfield street on an overcast morning
A drive-thru stand and street corner on the south side of Springfield, Illinois
2 · A drive-thru stand and street corner on the south side of Springfield, Illinois
The Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, a golden Greek-revival church with a clock tower in downtown Springfield
3 · The Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, a golden Greek-revival church with a clock tower in downtown Springfield
Grand limestone state office buildings with a seated Lincoln statue, downtown Springfield
4 · Grand limestone state office buildings with a seated Lincoln statue, downtown Springfield
The bronze Lincoln family statue downtown — a traffic cone perched on Lincoln's hat
5 · The bronze Lincoln family statue downtown — a traffic cone perched on Lincoln's hat
The domed Illinois State Capitol in Springfield, with its fountain and Lincoln statue
6 · The domed Illinois State Capitol in Springfield, with its fountain and Lincoln statue

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