Rebekah making use of one of natures trekking poles – Photo Credit Scott Rokis
The 24th annual Superior Spring Trail Race took place on the Superior Hiking Trail between Carlton Peak and Caribou Trail on Saturday May 16 2026. 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 36th 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 3 countries, 27 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.
An average Tofte/Lutsen winter sees 90 inches of snow. This year we had about 80 inches. For some recent historical context, both the winter(s) of 2021-2022 and 2022-2023 saw in the neighborhood of 150 inches of snow, 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“. 2023-2024 was a low snow winter with only 50 inches. Leading into last years race after the winter of 2024-2025 we received around 75 inches of snow, just shy of this years total, but that snow was more evenly distributed throughout the winter than it was this year. A lot of this year’s snow came late in the season and persisted right into early April. That snow took awhile to melt due to cold nights all throughout the first few weeks of April, but shortly after the last of it melted (thanks to some heavy rains), significant rainfall stopped and things got dry in a hurry. Things were so dry that on late Friday afternoon before the race wildfire broke out on the shore impacting runners travel time to the race. As always a huge thank you to Superior Trail Race organizers and volunteers, SHT section adopters, and Superior Hiking Trail Associations contractor for help clearing trees from the Superior Spring Trail Race race course in time for the race. With the dry conditions came dry fast trails but some of the speed was tempered with early MN warm weather in the low to mid 70’s, full sun, unusually low humidity and gusty winds. Overall it was a gorgeous day for a run.
Registration for both the Spring and Fall races continue 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 how this same thing is becoming true for the 25K. Nothing makes us happier than seeing these younger runners engaging in the positive and life-affirming activity that is trail running.
One of the things I most appreciate about trail running and trail racing is all of the space (literally and figuratively) available for each individual to approach the activity and races in a way that best aligns with who and where they are. Some are training 100 mile weeks for months on end looking for a win or a course record, others train less and apply a focused power-hiking only strategy, while others run the course casually with friends or family, stopping at overlooks, taking in the sights and sounds. No matter how you approach your trail running and Superior, I assure you, you are doing it the right way if it is the right way for you. Speaking of some runners putting in high mile weeks… from the competitive end of the field things shook out like this:
50K
Male and Overall winner: Kirk Dewindt 4:12:04
Non-Binary: Anna Grace Tiede Hottinger 5:17:06 (Course Record)
Female: Naomi Nelson 5:31:00
25K
Male and Overall winner: Adam Eskuri 2:01:46
Female: Rychelle Denardo 2:11:17
Non-Binary: Stacia Madsen 4:50:25
12.5K
Male and Overall winner: Leif Lindstrom 58:55
Female: Abbey Ewald 1:08:15
Non-Binary: Cammey Cardinal 1:56:22
Some other interesting stats… our youngest finisher was Ross Nelson 7yo in the 25K, and our oldest finisher was Jerry Beutel 75yo in the 12.5K. The following individuals all ran and finished this year and maintain the most all time finishes for their respective distances; Maria Barton got her 17th Superior 50K finish, Todd Howard his 15th Superior 25K finish and John Brockman, Carrie Holy, Brianna Schueller and Erin Smillie each got their 6th Superior 12.5K finishes. Jared Simpson got his 10th 50K finish and Matthew Witham got his 10th 25KM finish.
As many of you know, I could go on (and on) with anecdotes and stats but I will digress and leave you with this… Cheri and I are so grateful that each and every one of you chooses to run, volunteer and support Superior. I hope that you got all of the running and connection that you wanted. We hope to see you again in the future; as a runner, a volunteer or supporting a friend or family member that chooses to tackle the race. As always, if you need anything, please reach out.
Sincerely,
John Storkamp
Race Director
Superior Spring Trail Race
Past Superior (Spring and Fall) champ Tyler Morey leading the 50K early. Kirk Dewindt would eventually take the lead and the win – Photo Credit Pat Lehnherr
Volunteers helping runners refill and refuel at the Oberg aid station – Photo Credit Tone Coughlin
Volunteers:
I strongly encourage you to take the time to read the volunteer recap / thank you HERE https://www.superiorspringtrailrace.com/2026-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.
“I just wanted to reach out with a sincere note of thanks for the incredible race you hosted this weekend. I had the opportunity to run the 12.5K alongside my 10-year-old son, and sharing the beauty of the Superior Hiking Trail with him was a gift beyond words. The experience was exceptionally well done — thoughtful, welcoming, and deeply memorable. What you create through these events has a meaningful impact on so many people and families, ours included. Thank you again for all the work, care, and heart that goes into making something like this possible. Warmly – Chelsy”
Superior 12K as a Saturday family outing – Photo Credit Kevin Langton
Photos:
All 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 HERE https://www.superiorspringtrailrace.com/photos/ some of our favorite photos from this year’s race can be found HERE https://www.superiorspringtrailrace.com/photos-2026-highlights/
Results and Stats:
Race day / live results were / are available HERE. Official race results are available on our website [ 50K, 25K, 12.5K ]. Results have also been uploaded to UltraSignup [ 50K, 25K, 12.5K ] and have been sent into UTMB [ 50K, 25K ] so qualifying points can be awarded to those that wish to do those races some day (UTMB, CCC, TDS, OCC).
| 2026 | Registered | Started | Start % | DNS | DNS % | DNFd | DNF % | Finished | Finish % |
| 50K | 312 | 245 | 79% | 67 | 21% | 17 | 7% | 228 | 93% |
| 25K | 368 | 304 | 83% | 64 | 17% | 6 | 2% | 298 | 98% |
| 12.5K | 306 | 254 | 83% | 52 | 17% | 2 | 1% | 252 | 99% |
| Total | 986 | 803 | 81% | 183 | 19% | 25 | 3% | 778 | 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 Skeleton T-Shirt
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 Running
ACG
Vaniply / Vanicream
Fika Coffee
Best Day Brewing
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
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 of at least $5,000 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.
Superior Hiking Trail Association outreach at the Superior Spring Trail Race finish line – Photo Credit Tone Coughlin
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/GrRrhck75aEnubkJ8
Next Year:
The Superior Spring Trail Race is always held the weekend before Memorial Day weekend, so that will be Saturday May 22, 2027 (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 2027 registration and event details by late fall / early winter 2026.
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 4 https://www.aftontrailrun.com/ and/or the Endless Summer Trail Run Series; French 5K June 17, Lebanon 7MI July 8, Spring Lake 5MI July 29. 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
Check in volunteers helping out on Friday night – Photo Credit Christine Armbruster
A 50K runner prepping their drop bag for it to be sent out to the Oberg aid station – Photo Credit Christine Armbruster
25K runners at the race start – Photo Credit Cary Johnson
A quick briefing from Race Director John Storkamp at the start of the 50K – Photo Credit Christine Armbruster
And the 25K is off – Photo Credit Tone Coughlin
Rychelle Denardo enroute to the 25K win – Photo Credit Scott Rokis
Lots of love on the trail – Photo Credit Scott Rokis
Joshua Yamauchi moving swiftly through the maple forest in the early miles of the 25K – Photo Credit Pat Lehnherr
Fellow runners prepping for a minimal / impromptu aid station (‘Party on the Peak’) on Carlton Peak for 50K runners – Photo Credit Christine Armbruster
50K runners Jake Rossman coming through the Moose/Mystery valley on the return trip – Photo Credit Scott Rokis
Oft runner and RSR photography volunteer Carly Danek in the maple forest on Mystery Mountain – Photo Credit Scott Rokis
Tracy Dauwalter finishing the 12K – photo credit Mike Wheeler
Longtime Superior runner and volunteer Jerry Beutel finishing the 12K with his daughter Katie – Photo Credit Mike Wheeler
The whole family taking a picture with the Superior wolf at the finish – Photo Credit Mike Wheeler
Salty runners returning to loved ones after the race – Photo Credit Tone Coughlin
The Superior 12K proof that the kids are more than alright – Photo Credit Kevin Langton