Top 10 Hardest Courses In Illinois
Many people think of Illinois as a flat state with little in the way of challenging terrain, but that reputation doesn't tell the whole story. While the state may not have the mountains or dramatic elevation changes found in other parts of the country, Illinois is home to several cross country courses that can significantly slow runners down. In this article, we take a look at the 10 toughest cross country courses in Illinois, using Detweiller Park as our baseline. The IHSA State Meet course in Peoria is widely regarded as one of the fastest and flattest courses in the state, making it a useful measuring stick for comparing courses across Illinois. To determine which courses are the most difficult, we looked at performances from runners who competed on both a particular course and at Detweiller Park. For each meet, we examined the top 10 finishers and compared their average performance on that course to their average time at Detweiller. The difference between those performances gives us an estimate of how much slower, on average, a course runs compared to the State Meet venue. This isn't simply a ranking of courses with the most hills. Weather, footing, turns, grass conditions, elevation changes and other factors can all influence how quickly a runner gets around a course. Instead, this ranking looks at the results themselves to determine which courses consistently produce slower times among some of the state's top runners. So, which courses are truly the toughest in Illinois? Here are the Top 10 hardest courses in the state based on their average time difference from Detweiller Park.
Veteran Acres (-1:37 OFF)
2025 Rich Eschman | |||
1 | 16:33 | 14:43 | 1:50 |
2 | 16:41 | 14:59 | 1:42 |
3 | 16:45 | 15:14 | 1:31 |
4 | 16:51 | 15:20 | 1:31 |
5 | 16:55 | 15:08 | 1:47 |
6 | 17:12 | 15:25 | 1:47 |
7 | 17:25 | 15:18 | 2:07 |
8 | 17:28 | 15:55 | 1:33 |
9 | 17:29 | 15:54 | 1:35 |
10 | 17:48 | 16:55 | 0:53 |
AVG | 1:37 | ||
Furrow Farm (-1:33 OFF)
2025 EPG Invite | |||
1 | 15:30 | 14:28 | 1:02 |
2 | 16:18 | 14:54 | 1:24 |
3 | 16:28 | 14:58 | 1:30 |
4 | 16:47 | 15:29 | 1:18 |
5 | 16:58 | 15:31 | 1:27 |
6 | 17:09 | 15:21 | 1:48 |
7 | 17:11 | 15:05 | 2:06 |
8 | 17:13 | 15:45 | 1:28 |
9 | 17:15 | 15:17 | 1:58 |
10 | 17:16 | 15:44 | 1:32 |
AVG | 1:33 | ||
McHenry Township Park (-1:31 OFF)
2025 KRC Championships | |||
1 | 16:18 | 14:42 | 1:36 |
2 | 16:32 | 14:57 | 1:35 |
3 | 17:17 | 15:42 | 1:35 |
4 | 17:23 | 15:54 | 1:29 |
5 | 17:26 | 15:35 | 1:51 |
6 | 17:30 | 16:15 | 1:15 |
7 | 17:46 | 16:32 | 1:14 |
8 | 17:46 | 16:15 | 1:31 |
9 | 17:47 | 15:45 | 2:02 |
10 | 17:49 | 16:46 | 1:03 |
AVG | 1:31 | ||
River Valley Christian (-1:21 OFF)
2024 HCA Regional | |||
1 | 16:20 | 15:04 | 1:16 |
2 | 16:24 | 15:12 | 1:12 |
3 | 16:31 | 15:07 | 1:24 |
4 | 16:31 | 15:06 | 1:25 |
5 | 16:32 | 15:11 | 1:21 |
6 | 17:01 | 15:48 | 1:13 |
7 | 17:05 | 15:40 | 1:25 |
8 | 17:08 | 15:46 | 1:22 |
9 | 17:08 | 15:43 | 1:25 |
10 | 17:13 | 15:46 | 1:27 |
AVG | 1:21 | ||
Emricson Park (-1:18 OFF)
2025 Woodstock Regional | |||
1 | 16:06 | 14:46 | 1:20 |
2 | 16:12 | 14:42 | 1:30 |
3 | 16:23 | 15:09 | 1:14 |
4 | 16:26 | 15:06 | 1:20 |
5 | 16:37 | 15:42 | 0:55 |
6 | 16:44 | 14:39 | 2:05 |
7 | 16:47 | 15:35 | 1:12 |
8 | 16:48 | 15:55 | 0:53 |
9 | 16:48 | 15:35 | 1:13 |
10 | 16:49 | 15:30 | 1:19 |
AVG | 1:18 | ||
Dellwood Park (-1:16 OFF)
2025 Locktoberfest Invite | |||
1 | 15:40 | 14:25 | 1:15 |
2 | 15:50 | 14:54 | 0:56 |
3 | 16:03 | 14:47 | 1:16 |
4 | 16:14 | 14:28 | 1:46 |
5 | 16:21 | 15:16 | 1:05 |
6 | 16:21 | 15:16 | 1:05 |
7 | 16:24 | 15:33 | 0:51 |
8 | 16:28 | 14:48 | 1:40 |
9 | 16:29 | 15:03 | 1:26 |
10 | 16:36 | 15:11 | 1:25 |
AVG | 1:16 | ||
Yeti CC @ Donovan Park (-1:13 OFF)
2024 PND Regional | |||
1 | 15:57 | 14:47 | 1:10 |
2 | 16:21 | 15:02 | 1:19 |
3 | 16:24 | 15:19 | 1:05 |
4 | 16:26 | 15:23 | 1:03 |
5 | 16:40 | 15:35 | 1:05 |
6 | 16:41 | 15:25 | 1:16 |
7 | 16:46 | 15:40 | 1:06 |
8 | 16:50 | 15:22 | 1:28 |
9 | 16:51 | 15:38 | 1:13 |
10 | 16:59 | 15:30 | 1:29 |
AVG | 1:13 | ||
Oregon High School (-1:02 OFF)
2024 Oregon Regional | |||
1 | 15:51 | 14:33 | 1:18 |
2 | 15:59 | 14:54 | 1:05 |
3 | 16:14 | 15:08 | 1:06 |
4 | 16:16 | 15:18 | 0:58 |
5 | 16:25 | 15:16 | 1:09 |
6 | 16:34 | 15:54 | 0:40 |
7 | 16:41 | 15:32 | 1:09 |
8 | 16:56 | 15:57 | 0:59 |
9 | 16:59 | 15:58 | 1:01 |
10 | 17:03 | 16:02 | 1:01 |
AVG | 1:02 | ||
Lisle Community Park (-1:01 OFF)
2024 Lisle Sectional | |||
1 | 16:06 | 15:12 | 0:54 |
2 | 16:06 | 15:04 | 1:02 |
3 | 16:07 | 15:11 | 0:56 |
4 | 16:19 | 15:18 | 1:01 |
5 | 16:24 | 15:06 | 1:18 |
6 | 16:29 | 15:23 | 1:06 |
7 | 16:33 | 15:48 | 0:45 |
8 | 16:33 | 15:07 | 1:26 |
9 | 16:36 | 15:39 | 0:57 |
10 | 16:36 | 15:48 | 0:48 |
AVG | 1:01 | ||
Hoover Park (-0:56 OFF)
2025 MacNider Invite | |||
1 | 15:47 | 14:41 | 1:06 |
3 | 16:11 | 15:06 | 1:05 |
4 | 16:14 | 15:05 | 1:09 |
5 | 16:14 | 15:29 | 0:45 |
6 | 16:25 | 15:35 | 0:50 |
7 | 16:28 | 15:20 | 1:08 |
8 | 16:29 | 15:47 | 0:42 |
9 | 16:31 | 15:36 | 0:55 |
10 | 16:32 | 15:47 | 0:45 |
AVG | 0:56 | ||
