The Zumbro Endurance Run takes place within the Zumbro River Bottoms Management Unit in Southeastern Minnesota’s Bluff Country – just outside of the tiny village of Theilman, MN approximately 1:45 from Minneapolis – St.Paul, MN. The races start and finish at the West Assembly / Horse Campground Area. Generally speaking …
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The Zumbro Endurance Run takes place within the Zumbro River Bottoms Management Unit in Southeastern Minnesota’s Bluff Country – just outside of the tiny village of Theilman, MN approximately 1:45 from Minneapolis – St.Paul, MN. The races start and finish at the West Assembly / Horse Campground Area. Generally speaking the Zumbro River Bottoms Management Unit lies within a portion of the Richard J. Dorer Memorial Hardwood Forest – an expansive 1.7 million acre tract of Minnesota hardwood forest on the Northern edge of the Driftless Region which is mainly characterized by its tall bluffs and deeply carved river valleys. This “bluff country” is rugged, hauntingly beautiful and provides the perfect venue for trail running.
The course consists of a mix of rugged single and double track trail with rubble, loose rock and sand, along with very runnable minimum maintenance gravel roads. The race is primarily concentrated in two large valleys within an expansive hardwood forest. There are four significant, short, steep climbs (of approximately 300FT) per loop with smaller hills in-between, along with some significant stretches of flat and fast valley floor running.
The Zumbro Endurance Run is organized by Rocksteady Running and directed by John Storkamp. Rocksteady Running produces several trail and ultrarunning races in the state of Minnesota. The races are put on by longtime trail and ultrarunners. The focus is on sustainability, runner safety, runner experience and giving back to the trail, parks and communities where our events are held. The mission is to create experiences that facilitate connection. All credit is due to an army of volunteers and a wonderful Minnesota trail running community.
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Finally Zumbro
This was my first real race post Covid and I loved every minute. Zumbro has been on my list of races to do and this year it worked out. The … MORE
This was my first real race post Covid and I loved every minute.
Zumbro has been on my list of races to do and this year it worked out. The weather was great for running, upper 40’s – 50’s with rain at times. The course has a handful of steep climbs and some decent views of the hills and valleys. You cross over the Zumbro river a few times and I stopped to check it out for kayaking, looks good for that.
For me, the day was long and slow as I decided to do it even though I had torn my meniscus the week before. So I was using poles and had to mostly walk. The course is runnable for the most part except for some of the rocky declines and the handful of miles in sand, Loved every minute.