Gopher to Badger Half Marathon

Race date: August 9th, 2014

Race location: Stillwater, MN to Hudson, WI

Distance: 13.1 miles

Race website: http://www.finalstretch.com/running-races/gopher-to-badger.html

So what did I think of this race? It was a good overall course, there were approximately 2000 participants this year, so the race was not overly crowded or under-packed. The entry fee was a decent amount as well-only 35$ for early sign up. Like I previously stated, the course was nice, there were not any sort of steep inclines or sudden drops. The most interesting aspect of the course was having to cross the La Croix river on highway 94 on the sidewalk. For those who have a fear of bridges, this might not be the race for you. There were portions (miles 6.5-8) which were desolate and boring, and around mile 7, there were dump trucks passing through that were carrying dirt, making it hard to breathe, and whether or not this aspect will be here for the following years is unknown to me. Besides the mile and a half which are plain, the rest of the race has interesting scenery which can help in a longer race like this. Another aspect which was frustrating was as we were crossing the bridge and running on a trail, there were bikers, not within the race, who would not make room for the runners. They would weave in and out of us, telling us to get out of the way. In my case as well, there was a biker who was following a runner who kept starting and stopping in front of me, a few times cutting me off as well. Only other complaint about this race was how the race made people from outside of minnesota or wisconsin feel like outsiders. The bibs that Minnesotans or Wisconsans recieved for the race looked along these lines:

Whereas the out-of-state runners had bibs like these.

Actual picture of me and my mother prior to the race.

This was a minor issue, but singled us out among the rest of the runners. Out of 2000, there were about 10 of us who were not native to either Minnesota or Wisconsin. Despite these minor setbacks,  I would definitely recommend this race to anyone!

Pros:

• Great price
• Majority of course is fun
• Amount of runners is good for beginners and professionals

Cons:

• Bikers
• Bibs (I could really care less though)