Southern IL River to River Relay Race Saturday

Saturday's 31st running of southern Illinois' annual River to River Relay will be a few miles shorter this year, but it's still no sprint.

The 2,000 runners starting near the Mississippi River at Wolf Lake in Union County will "only" run about 77 miles this year, because of washed-out roads at the usual starting point in the Shawnee Forest. Members of the 250 eight-person teams will each run a series of two- to four-mile legs until they reach the Ohio River in downtown Golconda.

The first teams will head out at 6:30 am Saturday for the trek through Union, Johnson and Pope counties. The first runners usually reach Golconda between 2 and 3 pm, but the finish line will stay open for the slower runners well into the evening.

Illinois State Police and local law enforcement will be on the route, and they advise local drivers to watch for the long stream of runners, pedestrians and support vehicles along the way.

Police ask those participating in the race to be courteous to residents who live along the race route by not blocking their driveways and not parking vehicles in their yards. When parking on the roadway, park along the right side only. This will allow for the roadway to remain open for emergency vehicles and local traffic needing to access residences and property along the route.