2021 EVENT VIRTUAL ONLY.
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The Polar Dash will be at Harriet Island in Saint Paul. The location has a beautiful view of downtown Saint Paul and the Mississippi River. Plus the Harriet Island Pavilion will be a warm shelter for runners on a chilly New Year’s Day.
The half marathon course starts by traveling down river on Harriet Island Road, crossing under the Wabasha bridge, turning right onto Levee Road. Runners take a right on Fillmore crossing over Wabasha Street and continuing onto Water Street. From Water Street, the course goes rightonto Plato, then takes a left on Water/Lilydale. unners will continue on Water/Lilydale until they turn around retracing the course back to the the start line. Runners turnaround and join the 10K runners for the second loop on Water/Lilydale. Half marathoners turn around with the 10K runners and finish their race near the Harriet Island Pavilion on Dr. Justus Ohage Street.
All runners get their Polar Dash fleece as well as a finisher’s medal. Once you complete this race. we’ll have Hot Chocolate waiting for you at the finish line! Make sure to head to Cooper Irish Pub or any of the Cara Irish Pubs after the race to redeem your coupon for a FREE Finnigans beer!
This is a cold weather race and participants must come ready to run in any kind of wintry weather. We will have off-site parking with a shuttle service bringing participants to and from the race.
LESS
If you are going to do Minnesota.
Hey, if you are running Minnesota, this is the way to do it. First weekend of each year, its the Polar Dash! Some years is -20, so years it +20. … MORE
Hey, if you are running Minnesota, this is the way to do it. First weekend of each year, its the Polar Dash! Some years is -20, so years it +20. This one was in the +20 range, so it was definitely the easier year to do it. Either way, they make a big deal out of those you come to face the brutal cold and wind. A must do run.
Great Challenge Event
I ran this as part of the Mount Everest Challenge (2K/5K/Half Marathon) and had a fantastic time. The website is POOR and I don't think I ever actually got a … MORE
I ran this as part of the Mount Everest Challenge (2K/5K/Half Marathon) and had a fantastic time. The website is POOR and I don’t think I ever actually got a response on questions I had for them. However, their event was well executed, cool medal, pretty solid swag. You had to pay for parking, and they didn’t have aid (Gu) except water, but was a great event to get in before all events were put on pause.
Polar Dash
The race went well and I lucked out the second year in a row with a very mild Minnesota January day. But the race day is a lot, many distances … MORE
The race went well and I lucked out the second year in a row with a very mild Minnesota January day. But the race day is a lot, many distances and rather confusing for those doing longer distances with multiple mile markers. Also longer distances repeat a lot of the course which is kind of boring. The swag is great, love the vest and the medals are similar to last year but nice. I was glad my run buddy was on top of packet pick up because there were no email reminders about it. I got an email the day before the race. I like when a race send reminders a little further out.
Not a fun course, confusing
This course was very confusing- mile markers for multiple races on the same loop, no scenery at all. The race also charged any spectators who wanted to stand inside to … MORE
This course was very confusing- mile markers for multiple races on the same loop, no scenery at all. The race also charged any spectators who wanted to stand inside to stay warm, which seems very wrong. Won’t do this one again.