Eugene Curnow Trail Marathon

Eugene Curnow Trail Marathon

7/16/16

This is my third year running Eugene Curnow Marathon and it is one of the races I enjoy the most. The race is run from the Duluth Zoo to Carlton, MN ending at the Munger Trailhead.

I was not sure if I would run this year's race as we had just gotten back from vacation the weekend before and I had no idea how busy I would be. Turns out I did not have tons of work to catch up on so decided to use my free entry that I won at the Upper Midwest Trail Runners Annual Banquet last November.

Similiar to the last two years races I drove up on Friday night after work to sleep in my van near the Trailhead. This year the trucking company allowed us to use their parking lot and this is where the bus picked us up on Saturday morning at 4:45 am to drive us to the start line which is at the Duluth Zoo parking lot. I arrived Friday night at about 8:45 and chatted with some others parked and sleeping in their vehicles that night as well. The weather was great, not too humid and the bugs were minimal this year. I went into bed not too late, maybe 9:30? First I got everything ready for the race by laying out all my clothes and making sure my hydration pack was fully loaded and ready to go. I decided to run without drop bags and just carried what I needed. I mostly planned on getting my nutrition from the aid stations and/or gels. I knew they would have gels if I did not want to survive on candy from the aid stations.

I awoke at 4 am after a fairly good night of sleep. The pad I chose to use was not as comfortable as the other foam pads I have used in the past so I will probably go back to the old ones for van sleeping. I brought my backpacking stove so I could make myself some coffee and actually grabbed a disposable cup to take my coffee on the bus with me. I tried to choke down a bagel but the left over chocolate chip cookies I had with me tasted much better for breakfast.

I jumped onto the first bus leaving. This got us to the start line with lots of time to get registered and use the porta potties. This year there were 100 more runners registered than the previous year, from 250 to about 370 or so. It seemed like they added a lot of extra porta potties at the start line. Not that I was complaining.

The race started at 6:00 am with a small speech in the beginning and the usual "go" to get the race underway. I positioned myself at the back of the pack. Either way there was going to be a traffic jam as we attempted to funnel onto the trail. I did not feel the need to position myself further up as I had no time goals for this race. This race was being run without any printed plans on my part. Not even my normal sheet showing desired pace and finish time with all the aid stations neatly printed out with distances between. I was using this race to have a fun day of running the trails and use it as a training run and my last long run for Voyageur 50 mile in just two weeks. It was also my opportunity to familiarize myself with the trail again. Every other year this race includes Jarrow's Beach and that was to be this year again. I was most eagerly looking forward to that small section of the race! Oh and it was very muddy this year! They had gotten a lot of rain in the last few weeks and I was told the creeks were running higher than the last year.

How is this for mud?

I got into a comfortable pace after climbing the first hill. Much of this course is runnable and I did find myself running some quicker miles like miles 3, 7, 8 and 9 being roughly less than 12 minute miles. We actually hit Jarrow's Beach around mile 5 or so. This is where the fun really began. Even though we have to move much slower climbing the rocks I enjoy the technical aspect of it. Although, to be honest if it were at mile 23 I might not!  I managed to pass a few runners in this next section.

Entering Jarrows Beach with a warning, "be careful it is wet and slippery"

Having fun through Jarrow's Beach 

(photo credit: Shane Olson)

I seemed to have found my inner monkey during this race! (photo credit: Shane Olson)

I had so much fun running these first 7.5 miles that when I ran into Becks Aid station I could not stop smiling! I was having fun. I saw Bob Marsh here helping us to cross the highway! Thank you Bob for volunteering!

The other fun portion of the course that I look forward to are the ropes. This is a fun section that first runs along a very narrow ridge and then drops down where the race director puts up ropes so that we can make it down without falling.  I found myself running with a group of about 5 runners and I ran with them out of Jarrow's Beach all the way to the Powerlines.

Going Down!

Looking back up after coming down.

After all this fun we soon hit the powerlines. Just before getting to them we have an aid station stop at Seven Bridges. I refilled my water bladder at this point as I did not want to run out of water on the next section.

Running into Seven Bridges Aid Station just prior to the "Powerlines"

This section includes some major climbing and running out in the open. It can get very hot! The first hill is always the hardest one to climb and it is most often the muddiest. This year it was quite muddy and I fell within the first few steps trying to climb up. My hands were covered in very wet clay like mud. This was probably a good thing because now I could climb using my hands and not worry about trying to keep them clean! :)

Beauty on the Power Lines!

After the Powerline section I found myself running alone for quite awhile. I passed a few runners but was no longer running with a group of runners. Things were still feeling good, although that last climb into Peterson's aid station is an eye opener. With this trail being mostly runnable I found myself slowing down on this final major ascent.

Finally I found myself at the final Aid Station (I did not stop as I had gels and plenty of water) and crossing the swinging bridge. It was quite populated while I was crossing so patiently waited my turn and slowed down as a result.

Coming over the Swinging bridge in Jay Cooke State Park

This next section is very technical but not very hilly. It does tend to be more populated being in Jay Cooke State Park. Many people out hiking with little children. It was slow and steady to the finish having fun dodging the roots and rocks (and people) on this section.

I was not looking at my watch for what time it was. I was going to finish this race without knowing my finish time. It was going to be what it was going to be. There is a final hill getting onto the Munger Bike trail and when I saw it I knew the end was close. I steadily ran the paved trail and picked up my pace slightly when the saw the finish line.

I finished in about 7:24 and was very happy with how well this race went. I do have to admit that I was looking for a sub 7 hour finish but with Jarrow's Beach I am happy with my finish time. Now I just have to go back in two weeks and run 50 miles in less than 14 hours! I am hoping that I can go into Voyageur 50 mile race and run it happy as well.

One odd thing I did have to deal with on this run was with my shoes. My shoe liners in my Hoka Challengers kept moving around in my shoe and folding under the arch and heel of my foot. I had to stop several times to figure out what was going on. They would bunch up on the down hills and then on the flats or going uphill they would eventually work themselves out. At first I was worried about creating some blisters on my feet but eventually had to just let them be or I would have been stopping too often to fix them. It was an odd feeling and I think that the water and wet feet must have been what caused the situation. Has anyone else ever had that happen with their Hoka's? I was wearing two pair of socks, my injinji's and a thin wool sock. I have run this way before though so don't think it was my socks causing the problems. I do know I need to get this figured out before running voyageur. I don't want to deal with it for 50 miles for sure.

Thank you to all the volunteers who help make this race possible and to the Race Director. If you are ever looking for a fun and challenging trail marathon this is an excellent choice!