Wild Duluth 100K – 2011

Race Report from LPTRunner Julie Treder:

This was my third year of going back to Wild Duluth.  The trail and race just keeps calling me back.  This year, though, there were new eyes and new legs from the LPTR crew to join in the fun – Sam, Angela, and Tony.

Duluth is a beautiful city… and this race helps you to witness the sights of the town at its best – from above.  The 100K starts at 6AM, so the runners get to experience a few of the early miles in the dark.  Luckily, a good chunk of those early miles are either on pavement or going uphill.  Helps to lessen the danger of taking a tumble… speaking from experience.

Heading uphill, you get these awesome views of the city… all lit up.  Run a little longer and you get another awesome view… sunrise.  You can’t beat that!!  This year, not only were we welcoming the sun to view its rise… we were welcoming it to gets it warmth.  It was a pretty chilly start, so any extra warmth we could get, we wanted!

Julie and Sam

The aid stations are phenomenal at this race… and they are manned by the same crew THE WHOLE RACE.  These people are just wonderful.  Here I was complaining about how cold I was at the start of the race… but I’m moving.  The aid station volunteers were helping us runners out, never complaining a bit.  They served lots of delicious food (so I heard from Sam!) and offered out much support.

Being an out-n-back course, we got to see not only the return of all the 100Kers… we also got to see the 50K runners coming at us.  What a great way to pass the time, cheering on all the racers. 

The race is all on the Superior Hiking Trail, so that means it is TECHNICAL.  There are rocks, there are roots, there are bridges, there is mud… all to keep you on your toes (if you’re lucky!!).  There were lots of leaves on the ground for the race, making things a bit tougher… but also helping to buffer the fall, when you went down.  (Notice how I said “when” and not “if”…)

I keep coming back to this race because of the great job the race directors do (thanks to the Holaks!!), the wonderful volunteers, the very familiar faces from some of the other races I’ve been fortunate enough to do (it felt like a VoyageurQuest reunion!), the amazing views of Duluth in both the daytime and the nighttime, the beautiful scenes as you look out at Lake Superior, and the amazing Superior Hiking Trail that you can never take for granted.  If you want a well-run race during a great time of the year… put Wild Duluth on your calendar next year!!

Angela

Tony Cesario