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The third stage of the journey will push me slightly north, where I’ll be hugging the southern edge of Lake Michigan and heading into Chicago. From there, I’ll be hitting a number of small cities in Illinois that I had never heard about until I started planning this route. Then I’ll make my way into Iowa, where both Iowa City, Des Moines, and the heartland I have only known through headlines await the steady beat of my two feet.

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Here’s the second stage of the proposed route. This will cover a little more than 400 miles. The pace will be somewhat slower in Ohio, due to the many wilderness areas and the mountainous region on the Buckeye State’s eastern side, which will greet me not long after I cross the Ohio River. But once I hit Columbus, the terrain will even out. And I’ll be moving northeast to South Bend, Indiana, which will put me close to Chicago.