Subject: 21st Annual Minnesota Voyageur Trail 50 Mile/ July 27, 2002 (long vivid report) From: "Dorion, Mark G" Date: Wed, 31 Jul 2002 02:06:39 -0600 Once again race director Barn Curnow (Saginaw, MN) and her veteran crew of aid station workers and course assistants put on a spectacular event. The Voyageur is one of the older trail ultras in the USA and over the years has seen some incredible ultrarunners tackle its twisting, often rocky, muddy, rooty and scenic out and back route. Duluth native Scott Jurek's 6:41 course record (in a narrow 1 minute win over his former boss at Austin-Jarrow Sports, the legendary Jarrow Wahmann) is in my mind (and other ultra historians' minds too) one of the more impressive trail performances in the USA over the last 6-7 years. The course starts in the quaint logging town of Carlton (population 810) at the front door of the high school and after half a mile on a rails-trails bike path/ rutted roads, begins a breathtaking 3 mile run along the edge of the St. Louis River gorge, where in several spots one trip on a sharp rock ledge or exposed pine tree root could send a runner tumbling into the icy waters! This rocky up and down trail culminates with the crossing of the swinging cable bridge high above the swirling eddies and pools. Passing through beautiful Jay Cooke State Park (great picnic spot) the course proceeds onto seemingly endless miles of wide grassy paths which become progessively hillier as they cut through birch and hardwood-cloaked ravines with numerous brook crossings. Finally at about 10.5 miles runners enter the dreaded POWER-LINES. Having twice attempted the infamous Barkley Marathons in the wilds of eastern Tennessee, I can say that there is a striking resemblance between the Voyageur Power-lines trail and the Rat Jaw Hill ascent in Frozen Head State Park. In both events I got cut up by briars overgrowing the "trail," and slipped backwards on some uphill stretches as I simply could not make forward progress in the muddy, slippery conditions. After the Power-lines came some very pleasant, runnable miles of bike path and smooth clay trail (with some tricky, too-wide-for-me river and stream crossings-- no such thing as foot bridges here). I again nearly lost a shoe in several very muddy sections. I found the nicest views on the course between 23-27 miles as we crossed Skyline Drive and ran on a dirt path which criss-crossed the steep downhill slopes of Spirit Mountain Ski Area. While hot and humid, the day did allow distant views of the ports of Duluth and Superior, and if one squinted she MIGHT pick out distant hills in Canada or the upper peninsula of Michigan. The last mile to the turnaround was a bit of a cruel joke as it was a steady, rocky descent to the Duluth Zoo, requiring runners to turn right around and scramble back up the slope to begin the long gradual uphill return to Carlton. While we didn't get to enter the zoo and see any wild animals, I did hear some loud peacocks crowing and bears growling (I later found out the bear sound effects were provided by an aid station worker with a sense of humor). I have always loved out and back courses as one gets to cheer on and see the other runners head and/ or behind. Every single person seemed to have encouraging words for the oncoming runners. I did feel somewhat snail-like as another stellar Duluth ultrarunner (they grow them tough up here on the north shore), Andy Holak, pranced by me while I was still over 5km from the turnaround. Interestingly Andy and the second place runner passed me right in front of a musical bush! That's right, I heard ZZTop and later the Fabulous Thunderbirds blasting their positive vibes from a big scrubby bush on the north side of the path! Alas, like the bear growls at the zoo, the "musical bush" turned out to be the work of some aid station workers. Who would have suspected a boom box hidden in a bush?! For many runners the return trip was one long blur, especially after a serious thunderstorm hit about 8 hours into the race. Of course the first few runners were finished and enjoying hot showers while the majority of the field crossed semi-open areas while lightning struck as close as 1/4 mile away. It was amazing how quickly the small streams in the deep ravines became raging torrents, and a rope would have helped in several spots. While I staggered onward at a death-march shuffle, several spry young runners went flying by me. I still do not know how some of these folks were RUNNING uphill in the slick, sometimes deep mud. One very talented young woman runner (who shall remain nameless) who flew along the homestretch was seen stopping at the Forbay's Dam and Lake to puff on a stogie offered by some oldtimer fishermen before kicking in the last 4 miles! The post run meal was one of the best I have had over the last 30 years of racing (choice of spinach or meat lasagna, salad, deserts, hot drinks, all cooked to perfection by Carlton's Cozy Cafe), and the food and hot showers 30 yards away certainly helped me to a fast recovery. The thunderboomer storms passed and the later finishers enjoyed the best running weather of the day. Again I can't say enough about Barn and Gene Curnow and Jarrow and all the other race workers. As a token of my appreciation I am offering all Voyageur race workers and finishers half price entry to my early-spring 2003 52+ mile Sierra Vista Double-Marathon in El Paso! Come on down for a late-winter break! Otherwise I will hope to see you again amongst the pines and birches and big rocks of the Voyagauer Trail. --Mark Dorion P.S.-- I have purposely not included times or places or number of finishers or "personal war stories" here-- these can be posted later but for now I just wanted to try to capture the essence of this wonderful place and event. PLEASE-- anyone who was there-- contribute your own memories of the sights and sounds and uniqueness of the Voyageur Trail!