Lisa Poe's Staging Area

I was entered into this race for free, which is a huge bonus. For a free entry it is not shocking that there is a lack of swag, I still got a race shirt and a nice medal at the end. Unfortunately the weather the morning of was not ideal, it was raining and around mile 8 it was pretty much a downpour. Even though the conditions were not great, all aid stations were well stocked with plenty of volunteers. They claim there is a “locally famous hill”, however there is definitely more than one hill. Not more than what I was used to, but I was not mentally prepared for that many hills, I thought it would be mainly flat. There were probably 4-5 hills total and 1 hill was pretty much a vertical climb. I wish there was a few more options for food post race and the ability to purchase extra race swag, but I understand when entry fees are $0-$5 I may not get some of those items. I would like to come back to run the full marathon.

I almost signed up for this race last year but I did not train enough and decided not to, I wish I would have. The race director of many years unfortunately passed away last year.

I participated in the 5K and full marathon and my kids did the youth run. I registered for this event when it first opened up, at the time it told me the youth run was Thursday night, also for the youth run it only gave sizes as small, medium, large, etc. about a month before the race it was announced the youth run was getting moved to Saturday after the marathon (their dog run got moved to this time as well).

When I got to packet pick up they were trying to give me adult sizes for the youth run. The packet pickup also did not have many hours and there was no race day packet pick up, you had to get it by 6:30 the night before or you were out of luck. It was about a 30 minute line to get into packet pickup.

The 5k was Friday night and the roads we ran on were a disaster, many pot holes and very beat up. They did a wave start but had no signs of what paces belong where so we got stuck to back. As we were running, it was frequently running traffic both ways on a small sidewalk and cars going 45 mph right next to us.

On Saturday morning the half marathon began at 7:00, the marathon at 7:15 and the 10k at 7:25. The courses were a mess. They were not well marked, the 3 events each had their own course but were frequently joining and leaving one another, when there were splits they were not well marked where to go. The first 6 miles of the race had a grand total of 3 porta potties with very long lines. The course was terribly marked and I did not see about half the mile markers. I know many people turned the wrong way. At one point I saw a pretty big turn with a lawn chair and about a 6inch sign saying “turn here” no person in sight to man this turn.

The youth run was supposed to begin at 2, but the announcer did not even know where the start or the finish was.

I was very disappointed with the production of this run. I wish I would have signed up a previous year when it was ran well. I unfortunately have no intention on returning to this event.

-very well produced race
-small amount of runners (less than 100)
-well marked course
-you really don’t get to see the lake too much during the run, most of the run is on a street and the view of the lake is blocked
-it was extremely windy, unfortunately the course was very open and not well protected so the wind did make the run less enjoyable
-it was a very well organized race

Well organized race. It is not flat, it is not insanely hilly, but no monster hills. It was not as beautiful of a run as I was hoping. There were many well stocked and well staffed aid stops. Each aid stop had at least three portajohns as well. Overall good race.

-in the morning before you board the shuttle bus you can wait inside the Sanford center to stay warm
-great coordination for shuttle bus to the start
-beautiful, fun, flat course around Bemidji Lake

-this was a well organized race
-based on your distance you ran different amount of loops around the lake. I ran 1 loop for 10.5 miles
-shaded route
-trail run