10 Reasons Why Peoria's Screaming Pumpkin Race Is The Coolest Thing You Can Do This October

The color run? Tough Mudder? They've got NOTHING on the Screaming Pumpkin. This Marathon/Marathon Relay/6.55 Mile Run/2 Mile Walk happens every year in Peoria, IL, and people come from all over to run in the coolest most fun, and most unique race of all time. Here are the reasons you've got to go.

1. It's a prediction race!!!

So you don't have to be fast to win. Whoever finishes closest to midnight without going over, wins the race! Participants can begin running any time after 6:00 PM on October 25th, depending on the length of time they predict it will take them to complete the 26.2 mile distance before, or ideally, ON the stroke of midnight.

A race ANYONE can win!

2. Prizes! If you finish BEFORE midnight, you get a wand and a tiara. If you finish AFTER midnight, you get a pumpkin.

very Cinderella-esque

3. It takes place in Springdale Cemetery.

So that's frightening. Because there's nothing I love more than running around dead people at night.

4. It may or may not be haunted.

pjstar.com

Cole Circle is a secluded, mysterious area of Springdale Cemetery.

The only tree inside the large granite ring that surrounds the family burial plot is a sassafras tree.

Under that sassafras, trespassers have vandalized the circle and are said to have performed witchcraft and satanic rituals.

"Some people call it Devil's Tree because it's in Cole Circle," said Pat Lewis, Springdale's general manager.

Not to mention the shape of a sassafras leaf - a trident, which is the three-pronged spear depicted in many images of Satan.

At least two men are believed to have hanged themselves from the sassafras, the last in 2000.

Cole Circle is located in the savanna area of the historic cemetery, surrounded by tall prairie grasses and other naturally occurring plants that have been allowed to grow in an effort to reduce erosion. With the tree and a large stone monument towering over a circular configuration of headstones, the scene looks particularly eerie at dusk.

"A lot of superstition surrounds the spot up there because it's so secluded," said Linda Aylward, a Peoria Public Library reference assistant and historian who volunteers time to research Springdale's history. "There are stories that circulate about witchcraft - witches using it as a focal point because it's circular."

Cole Circle was a plot purchased by Almiran Cole. Cole and his wife, Chloe, made a two-month trip from Massachusetts to Peoria in 1835. In 1843 or '44, Cole opened Peoria's first distillery.

Because the Coles had nine children, many of whom died young, they required a large burial plot. Cole died in 1891 with extensive land holdings in Peoria, East Peoria and Pekin.

"A lot of the early grave lots in Springdale are in the configuration of a circle," Aylward said. "They just don't have that border like the Cole Circle has. It was a common style to bury them around a central family monument, in a circular pattern. Theirs is just a little more elaborate."

5. It is the darkest and hilliest course in the country!

Seriously, picture this, but at night.

6. But it's lit up with thousands of glow sticks!

7. There's a kids race this year!

The new kid's race is approximately 800 meters and will run around by the start/finish areas of the main race.

See all her energy and excitement? She can run it all off in the screaming pumpkin!

8. There's a costume contest! And the prize is a $150 gift card to Running Central!

Partner and relay-themed costumes are encouraged!

There's a stroller decorating contest too!

9. All of the post-race snacks and fun!

Post race food and drink will be provided for both the 10K and 2 mile participants as well as the Marathon participants. Food will be available until 1:00AM. There will also be food for sale for people not participating in the event.

10. Its on October 25, 2013. THE FRIDAY BEFORE HALLOWEEN!

We're excited! Are you?

REGISTER TODAY!

screamingpumpkinrace.com

And check us out on facebook!

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