MINNESOTA ATHLETES FINDING SUCCESS ON ALTERNATIVES TO ROAD RACES AS THEY ENTER TRAIL AND SPARTAN COMPETITIONS

December 27, 2022

Trail running is finding increasing popularity as runners seek out alternatives to road racing in an effort to find a running sector easier on their joints, include a more varied with turns and elevation changes, and more natural scenery. Garrett Heath (Winona) won the USATF Half Marathon Trail Championships hosted on American Birkebeiner turf near Cable, Wisconsin last month in a time of 1:13:44. The 2002 and 2003 state cross country champion and 2003 and 2004 state cross country ski and 1600- and 3200-meter run titlist seems to have the combination of endurance and the necessary mentality to compete in all weather conditions. The November race was held with slick footing and some challenging weather conditions. Tom Sederquist, orignially from Moorhead and a Concordia College runner who won the 2010 Griak Invite Maroon Race, took the bronze medal in 1:18:03. Tom is now an assistant running coach at UW-Superior and lives in Duluth.

Many Gopher fans and people in the running community are also aware of All-American Ladia Albertson-Junkan’s (Stillwater) prowess in the sport. Ladia won the 2022 Chuckanut 50k trail run and placed 4th in the prestigious Canyons 100k Endurance Run. Rachel Drake (White Bear Lake) is another trail runner with a handful of crowns to her name: the Coyote Wall 55k Trail Race, Volcanic 50k, and Black Canyons 60K just in 2021.

For the runner who is willing to get down and dirty, Spartan racing is an option. In these races, competitors not only run distances from 5k to marathon distances, but there are obstacles sprinkled throughout the course that demand completing varying tasks from wall and rope climbing, to crawling under barbed wire to throwing or hoisting items. It almost seems like a mixture of a decathlon and military training while running a long race.

Please feel free to comment or add the names of Minnesota athletes you know successful in these alternatives to road racing. Thanks!

Ladia Albertson-Junkans of Stillwater was an All-American runner at the University of Minnesota who won the 2022 Chuckanut 50k Trail Run

Rachel Drake achieved athletic and academic success at the University of Minnesota and now competes in trail running in the Pacific Northwest

Garrett and Elliott Heath on a run in Bend, Oregon