2025 Superior Spring Trail Race Recap

Those special moments on a trail run when you feel like your are flying – Photo Credit Cary Johnson

The 23rd annual Superior Spring Trail Race took place on the Superior Hiking Trail between Carlton Peak and Caribou Trail on Saturday May 17 2025. Runners can choose between 50KM, 25KM and 12.5KM distances. Race headquarters and the race finish(es) are at Caribou Highland Lodge on Lutsen Mountain. The Spring race is always held the weekend before Memorial Day weekend so as not to conflict with the beginning of the peak tourism season on the north shore. The Superior Spring Trail Race is the companion event to the Superior Fall Trail Race 100MI, 50MI, & 26.2MI which is held on the Superior Hiking Trail between Gooseberry Falls State Park and Lutsen each September. The Fall race is always held the weekend after Labor Day when things start to quiet down on the shore after summer, but before the fall leaf peeping busyness begins. Founded in 1991, just five years after the creation of the Superior Hiking Trail, this year will be the Fall races 35th annual. Both the Spring and the Fall races routinely host runners from multiple countries, all 50 states, and hundreds of Minnesota cities. This years Spring race had runners from the US and Canada, 20 states, and 172 Minnesota cities. The Superior Trail Races make an annual financial donation to the Superior Hiking Trail Association, encourages its participants to become SHTA members, and drives additional donations to the trail. Superior Trail Race organizers, volunteers, and runners contribute 100’s of volunteer hours improving the Superior Hiking Trail each year. The Superior Trail Race is organized under the banner of ‘Rocksteady Running’. Rocksteady Running is run out of my wife Cheri and I’s home and two-car garage, beyond Cheri and I there is no staff, and I work outside of the races. Our family and friends tirelessly support Cheri and I in this endeavor throughout the year, and a small army of volunteers show up on race week to do the same.

An average Lutsen/Tofte winter sees 90 inches of snow. This year we had 74 inches. For some recent historical context both the winter(s) of 2021-2022 and 2022-2023 saw in the neighborhood of 150 inches, with the spring of 2022 delivering some historic flooding to the north shore which all culminated in the change of race course / venue that year to the “the party in the pit“. This year the snow started melting really early, then we got a foot of new snow on April 2. This new snow took awhile to melt due to cold nights all throughout the month of April, but all of the snow eventually melted within a few weeks of the race. Outside of one significant rainfall in early May, there was very little rain leading into the race, in fact it got a little too dry in the northland as evidenced by the wildfires that would take off (and are still burning) in St. Louis and Lake Counties. An average number of trees down each spring on the 21ish miles of trail that comprise the Superior Spring Trail Race is about 40. This year there were over 200. Superior Trail Race organizers and volunteers, SHTA section adopters, and SHT’s contractor worked hard to clear the race course of trees in time for the race. In addition to the added challenge of so many trees to clear, there were some additional and unique challenges leading into this years race. Due to the aforementioned wildfires there were extra conversations that needed to be had with permitting agencies and local authorities in what is already a really busy week leading into the race. A rouge storm with gale-force winds kicked up two nights before the race and brought down more trees that we had to get out and clear the day before the race. The storm even flipped over all of our portable toilets for the race start(s) in the Lutsen Parking lot – our awesome local vendor G&G Septic having to come back to tip them up, clean, and refill them.

Although we had some rain before the race, the trails had been so dry that aside from where the trail is unimproved through wetlands and drainages, conditions were great. Temps were great too, if not a little cool especially towards the end of the day when high winds picked back up. Thankfully those winds were blowing in the right direction so air quality was good even with the fires burning a couple of counties away.

Registration for both the Spring and Fall continues to be conducted via lottery as demand outstrips available race spots. We limit the field in order to limit our footprint and preserve runner experience on the trail. The number of runners in each Spring race distance ends up being pretty equal. One thing I noticed again this year is how many young runners, and families the 12.5K is attracting. And now, after a few years of that it seems as though some of those younger runners are also trying out the 25K. Nothing makes us happier than seeing the younger runners turning out and becoming trail runners so early in life.

As usual there were strong competitive fields in all of the race distances. While our primary focus is on creating an approachable experience for runners of all abilities, we of course love seeing these competitive athletes doing their thing. While it is beyond the purview of this article to go play by play for all three distances, here are just a few cool tie-ins and other things that caught my attention this year. Tyler Morey who sponsors the Superior races via his coaching business North Coast Running took the 50K win. He also won the Superior 26.2MI / Moose Mountain Marathon in the Fall of 2024. Grand Marais school teacher Emma Spoon took the women’s win in the 50K. Over the years Emma has also won the Spring 25K five times and holds the course record, and the Fall 26.2 mile race three times and holds that course record too, but this was her first Superior 50K win. We will see what we can do about getting her signed up for the 12.5K, 50 mile, and 100 mile next! At just 13 years old, Leif Lindstrom, son of the owners of our awesome local sponsor Fika Coffee, took 2nd in the 12.5K. Katie Norton-Bower set a new women’s course record in the 12.5K. Maria Barton still has the most 50K finishes with 16 (17 if you count the ‘Party in the Pit’ year), she still loves Superior and has her sights set on 20 finishes. David Huberty finished the 12.5K again, he is 81 years young. Our friend and very frequent volunteer Alisha trained her but off leading into the 50K, worked equally as hard during the race to make the cutoffs, and got her finish. While Superior is just a little too big and complex for me to be on the finish line all day, I was so happy that I was there to catch her finish and see her daughter award her medal – it was inspiring to say the least.

Most of you know me by now, I could easily go on, but I will close with this… I am super fortunate that I get to call the north shore home. For a trail runner and nature lover the shore provides an embarrassment of riches. Better yet is getting to direct an event that has such a positive impact on people and on the trail that I fell in love with at 15 years old. While we have a nice number of ‘locals’ that participate in the race, one of my favorite things is to see just how giddy those who live away from the shore are when they get back after a long winter away. Lake Superior, the North Shore, and the SHT have such a profound impact on people. Getting together for this communal celebration that we call a trail races makes it all that much sweeter. Thank you all for being a part of it. As always, if you need anything, please reach out, Cheri and I are here for you.

Sincerely,

John Storkamp
Race Director
Superior Spring Trail Race

Balsam, spruce and cedar tunnel – Photo Credit Scott Rokis

Oberg Aid Station Captain Sam O. and do-it-all volunteer Todd R. – Photo Credit Christine Armbruster

Volunteers:
I strongly encourage you to take the time to read the volunteer recap / thank you HERE https://www.superiorspringtrailrace.com/2025-volunteer-thank-you/. If you would like to see what it takes to staff Superior and all the time that your fellow runners/volunteers give, see THIS https://www.superiorspringtrailrace.com/volunteer-assignments/ A large percentage of the trail running community routinely volunteers. If you have not yet, give yourself the gift of doing as much… with RSR (Afton and Superior Fall are coming up) or at another non-RSR race. I will be volunteering at Twin Cities Marathon and Hixon Trail Races this Fall, and on the Superior Hiking Trail. We all make this go.

Kind Words:
After each race we receive dozens of kind emails / testimonials / runners experiences and I always like to share at least one. This one speaks directly to the families and younger runners that we see in the 12.5K race.

“Thank you for another incredible Superior race. It was again one of our groups’ favorite days! This race has introduced our kids to trail running and given them more confidence than I can express. They leave feeling strong and proud.”

50K runner climbing up the infamous Moose Mountain steps – Photo Credit Scott Rokis

Photos:
Most of our incredible volunteer photographers have submitted their photos from the race. Not only do these photographers work hard at the race to get these shots, they work hard in the days following, doing all of the post-processing, organizing, and publishing of their photos. Please keep in mind that some of our photographers sell their photos, some make low res images available for free and sell the high res versions, some will accept tips and some give away the high res images for free. Please look for notes / prompts for each photographer / gallery. All of them put a ton of time into it and have a pile of expensive gear that makes this possible. As always it is good form to credit (by name) and thank photographers for the photos you are sharing on your social media or elsewhere. If you want to use photos for commercial purposes please contact the photographers directly or contact me if you are unable to find their contact information. If you are a photographer or aspiring photographer and you would like to come shoot some time, please contact us, we would love to have you. All of this years and past years galleries can be found HEREhttps://www.superiorspringtrailrace.com/photos/ some of our favorite photos from this year’s race can be found HERE https://www.superiorspringtrailrace.com/photos-2025-highlights/

Results and Stats:
Race results are available via THIS link https://www.athlinks.com/event/44440/results/Event/1107989/Results Once we are confident that everyone has had a chance to review the race results and no further revisions are needed, we will upload results to our proprietary results pages on the Superior website, to UltraSignup, and to UTMB so qualifying points can be awarded. If your result is missing, or you see anything off with the results, please let us know right away – we will have more information about your time/result in one of the backup timing systems that we run.

2025	Registered	Started	Start %	DNS	DNS %	DNFd	DNF %	Finished	Finsh %
50K	299	243	81%	56	19%	17	7%	226	93%
25K	357	303	85%	54	15%	7	2%	296	98%
12.5K	337	275	82%	62	18%	0	0%	275	100%
Total	993	821	83%	172	17%	24	3%	797	97%

Sweatshirts, T-Shirts, Hats and More for Sale:
Most of the same offerings we have on race day, along with extras of this years shirt, are available on our online store HERE https://www.rocksteadyrunning.com/shop/ – you can use the “filters” on the side of the page to sort and search for specific items.

Superior Spring Trail Race ‘cool operator hat’

Superior Spring Trail Race wood print course map and elevation chart

Wood Print Course Map and Elevation Charts:
Beyond the pre-orders we took for in-person pickup at Superior, we were able to produce some extras. Maps, Elevation Charts, and RSR Logo prints are available on our website.

Sponsors:
Please be sure to check out our awesome sponsors and Partners. We have real relationships with all of these businesses / organizations and most of the owners and/or employees are personal friends, they volunteer, run the races and are part of our local running community.

Superior Hiking Trail
Caribou Highlands
Visit Cook County
Mill City / Saint City Running
Vaniply / Vanicream
Fika Coffee
Northwoods Running
State Farm Insurance – Geri Martin
Trail Transformation
Performance Running Gym
Consilience Coaching
Climb Above Endurance Coaching
Discover Strength
North Coast Trail Running
Bridge Realty – Bill Pomerenke
Full Sun Services
Mile in My Shoes
LutZen Massage Studios
Captain Ken’s Chili
Relentless Courage – Jon Howard
Critical Connections Ecological Services
St. Croix Law

Fika Coffee:
For each Spring and Fall race local coffee shop and roaster Fika Coffee out of Lutsen, & soon to be Grand Marais, donates coffee for the race start(s), finish and aid stations – thank you Fika! Fika has created a fundraising campaign as they build their new roastery and headquarters in Grand Marais, MN. Superior Trail Races have donated both a Spring and Fall race, guaranteed / lottery bypass entry, for them to sell in order to raise funds for the initiative. Please help support Fika if you are available by purchasing one of the entries or by making a donation! Visit https://www.givefika.com/

Support the Superior Hiking Trail:
A large percentage of you are already Superior Hiking Trail Association members. Many of you who are not, indicated at the time you registered, that you would like to be. Now is a great time to show our support en masse that we, as trail runners, support the trail that we love to run! You can join, or make an extra donation to the SHT via the following (custom for Superior Trail Race) links… https://superiorhiking.org/joinsuperior/ and https://superiorhiking.org/donatesuperior/ – The Superior Trail Race will continue its charitable legacy to the Superior Hiking Trail Association with a donation at the end of the trail season / after the Fall race, in addition to ongoing volunteer efforts on the trail itself; building, clearing, maintaining and improving.

Moose/Mystery Boardwalk built by Superior Trail Race volunteers in the Summer of 2024 – Photo Credit Cary Johnson

Lodging Survey:
Our friends at Visit Cook County / Cook County Tourism are huge supporters of the Superior Trail Races. Please help us support them as they are looking for lodging data to help them better serve trail runners on both Superior Trail Race event weekends and throughout the year. Please take a moment to answer the brief three question survey HERE https://forms.gle/eAnbD3WVgRbmX7BE7

Next Year:
The Superior Spring Trail Race is always held the weekend before Memorial Day weekend, so that will be Saturday May 16, 2026 (pending the approval of our permit applications). The 15 day lottery registration period typically opens on January 1. The website will be updated with complete 2026 registration and event details by late fall / early winter 2025, stay tuned.

RSR Races This Summer:
Please join us for the Afton Trail Run 25K / 50K race at Afton State Park in the St. Croix River Valley on Saturday July 5 https://www.aftontrailrun.com/ and/or the Endless Summer Trail Run Series; French 5K June 11, Lebanon 7MI July 9, Spring Lake 5MI July 30. https://www.estrs.com/

In Closing:
I have said a lot here, so simply, thank you. Thank you for being awesome individuals and an awesome community. Thank you for putting your trust in Cheri and I, our core team and our volunteers. Thank you for allowing us the opportunity to serve. As always, if you need anything, please reach out.

Gratefully,

John Storkamp
Race Director
Superior Trail Race

Many families participate together at Superior – Photo Credit Kevin Langton