A good friend of mine and longtime Superior Trail Race volunteer Todd Rowe and I have a saying about Twin Cities Marathon weekend that we throw out there more than a few times each race season. “Twin Cities… it’s the second best weekend of the year”. In our collective estimation it is the ‘second best’ behind Superior Fall Trail Race weekend (the ‘Spring’ races sister event). For the Fall race, I direct, and Todd fills several key volunteer roles. He has also run the 100 himself, and crewed/paced friends in the 100. Part of the fun on these two weekend is all the ways you can engage over the several days that comprise the events. For Twin Cities Marathon weekend, we are both on the same committee, volunteering on Friday and Saturday – then on Sunday I typically run the Marathon, and Todd volunteers yet another day. We both love this weekend so much because a.) we really enjoy reconnecting and working with the other volunteers on our committee year after year b.) we believe in Twin Cities in Motion’s mission c.) the race is well organized and they make it easy and fun to volunteer c.) we love running and Twin Cities Marathon is our big city marathon of course! All of this is a long roundabout way of me saying that as the years go on, I think when viewed under a similar lens, the Superior Spring Trail Race makes a strong case as another one of the ‘best weekends of the year’. This seems to be backed up by how many of you return to help year after year. Given that the Spring race is a one day race as opposed to the 38 hour slugfest that is the Fall race, its still ‘out of town’ for many, so you travel, and stay a couple or few days. Because of these dynamics there ends up being time and opportunity for volunteers to spend time outside of their designated volunteer roles in order to get in a run together, share a meal or two, or do something together after a volunteer shift. Cheri and I see this throughout race weekend; Caribou Highlands townhomes rented by a mix of runners and volunteers partying the night before and of the race, friends that request to be at the same aid station then head out for and adventure of their own after their volunteer shift, and so on. All of this manifests in a memorable and meaningful couple of days together in what many of us consider one of our favorite places. So, in the same way that Todd and I feel as TCM volunteers; I hope that you believe in the RSR mission, fell well supported and like you are part of a well organized event, and were able to take in event weekend from several enjoyable vantages. Thank you all for joining us for this annual North Shore tradition.
As always, we love doing this with you, and could not and would not want to to do it without you. Thanks to each and every one of you for your contributions. We look forward to seeing you more as the trail season progresses.
Gratefully,
John Storkamp
Race Director
Superior Trail Race