Minnesota Voyageur 50

2012 Voyageur 50 Set for July 28

2011-11-09T08:32:00.001-08:00

The date for the 2012 Voyageur 50 has been set for July 28. Join us for the 31st Annual running of this classic ultramarathon!

Northland Sports Online Photo Gallery Link Added

2011-08-03T12:07:00.001-07:00

Northland Sports Online photo gallery added to Photos page

Northland Sports Online Artice about the Race

2011-08-03T12:05:00.001-07:00

Northland Sports Online

Duluth New-Tribune Article about the 30th Annual Voyageur

2011-08-03T12:03:00.001-07:00

Duluth News-Tribune article

Photos from the 2011 Voyaguer 50

2011-08-01T14:27:00.000-07:00

Check out Gregg Robertson's and Eve Stein's photos from the 2011 Voyageur 50 on the Photos page

Results link should be working now

2011-08-01T07:13:00.000-07:00

The link to the 2011 Results should be working now. It was set as private last night. I finished entering the results after midnight so I failed to see that it was set for private. Thanks for your patience.

Results from the 30th Annual Minnesota Trail Voyageur 50

2011-07-31T22:40:00.000-07:00

Thanks again runners for making the 30th Annual Voyageur 50 a memorable one! Kim and I had a great day and enjoyed watching you all finish and seeing the smiles on your faces. We also enjoyed seeing all of you out there on the course whether you finished or not. We hope you all enjoyed your day and will be back again for the 31st annual in 2012!

Here are the 2011 RESULTS

First woman finisher Christi Nowak

2011-07-30T14:33:00.001-07:00

8:37:35

Chris Rubesch 4th

2011-07-30T14:29:00.001-07:00

7:48:07

John Storkamp finishing in fine style

2011-07-30T14:28:00.001-07:00

5th in 8:10

Third place finisher Josh Wopata

2011-07-30T14:20:00.001-07:00

7:46:22

Second place Craig Hertz

2011-07-30T13:02:00.001-07:00

7:44:32

Sam Jurek wins the 30th Voyageur 50!

2011-07-30T12:47:00.001-07:00

Sam Jurek

First place woman leaving Fond du Lac

2011-07-30T10:55:00.001-07:00

Christi Nowak looking really strong leaving Fond du Lac with a pretty solid lead

Josh Wopata in third

2011-07-30T10:23:00.001-07:00

At 7 bridges

Second place Craig Hertz

2011-07-30T10:22:00.003-07:00

Not too far behind at 7 bridges

First runner through 7 bridges return

2011-07-30T10:22:00.001-07:00

Sam Jurek looking strong, ready to hit the powerlines

First and second leave Zoo together

2011-07-30T08:25:00.001-07:00

Josh Wopata and Sam Jurek out of zoo aid station at 10:20...running fast!

Second woman just leaving Becks

2011-07-30T08:23:00.001-07:00

Leslie Semler second. Third woman and 4th woman April Cole @ Becks. Womens race close!

Just passed first woman

2011-07-30T08:21:00.001-07:00

Christi Nowak on her way to Skyline aid station

First woman through Fond du Lac

2011-07-30T08:07:00.001-07:00

Christi Nowak first @ 9:35 am

Third runner through Becks

2011-07-30T07:47:00.001-07:00

Craig Hertz

Second place Sam Jurek through Becks Rd

2011-07-30T07:41:00.001-07:00

Sam Jurek

First runner through Becks Road

2011-07-30T07:40:00.001-07:00

Josh Wopata

Leaders through Fond du Lac

2011-07-30T07:14:00.001-07:00

Josh Wopata and Sam Jurek close through fond du lac

John Storkamp and Brian Peterson

2011-07-30T07:11:00.001-07:00

9 and 10 through 7 Bridges

First runner through Petersons

2011-07-30T06:52:00.003-07:00

Josh Wopata

First runner just through 7 Bridges aid station

2011-07-30T06:52:00.001-07:00

Josh Wopata is flying today

Runners moving FAST today!

2011-07-30T06:51:00.001-07:00

Leaders already through Grand Portage and on powerlines. Top 10+ through Grand Portage

Second through Petersons

2011-07-30T06:48:00.001-07:00

Sam Jurek

Update on Skyline Parkway road closure

2011-07-19T09:29:00.001-07:00

Update on road closure: Skyline Drive is closed between Spirit Mtn. and the skyline aid station. Crews will have to go all the way around to Beck's Road and back up Skyline Parkway if they'd like to go from the zoo turnaround to the skyline aid station or vice versa.

Note on Race Shirts

2011-07-19T09:23:00.001-07:00

Just a quick note on the race shirts. They're organic cotton this year in men's and women's cut. So, they fit a little snugger than a traditional cotton shirt. If anyone would like to change their shirt size, please let me know as soon as possible (today) as I'm getting the order in soon (this afternoon). :-)

Will the State Government Shutdown Affect Voyageur? Not Really.

2011-07-12T09:47:00.000-07:00

Since I've been getting a lot of questions about the state govt. shutdown, here's the skinny for Voyageur: Nothing much will change.

Aid station #1 at swinging bridge/state park HQ will move slightly out to the edge of the highway. Runners shouldn't notice this change much. Although parking will be a serious issue here and we may ask that crews don't park here.

AS #2 at Forbay Lake: No change as it's just off the public road there.

AS #3 at Petersons may be affected. If the gate is open, the aid station should remain at its historical location. If the gate is locked, it may be moved out to the parking lot on the edge of the Munger Trail. This might lengthen the course by a couple hundred yards. It will be clearly marked here.

AS #4 at the powerlines will not change. It's on the edge of HWY 210 already. The state park itself is public land which the public can continue to use.

We will run through the park and our aid stations are all generally located just off public roads or highways. Runners shouldn't really notice much difference at all. Enjoy Jay Cooke State Park on race day!

Race Registration Updated

2011-05-26T20:44:00.000-07:00

Race registration has been updated. See who is registered at RunRace

83 runners registered as of today. Should be a large field for the 30th Anniversary Voyageur!

Results, Photos, Sponsors and Weather also updated

2011-03-03T08:07:00.001-08:00

Still a little work to do to update 10 year and all-time finishes on Results page.

Maps Page Has Been Updated

2011-03-02T07:26:00.000-08:00

Maps Page has been updated with topo maps and profiles. Click on the map or profile for a full size image.

Race Info Page Has Been Updated

2011-03-01T15:08:00.000-08:00

The Race Info Page has now been updated for the 2011 race.

Entry Forms Posted

2011-02-28T13:59:00.000-08:00

Entry forms for the 2011 Minnesota Voyageur Trail 50 have been posted on our Entry Forms page. We'll be posting other information about the race as we continue to rebuild our Voyageur website which was taken down and then hijacked. Thank you for your patience.

Welcome to the Minnesota Voyageur Trail 50 Mile Run!

2011-02-28T13:46:00.000-08:00

The Minnesota Voyageur Trail Ultra is one of the oldest trail ultramarathons in the nation. 2011 will be its' 30th Anniversary. The rugged, varied course takes runners from Carlton High School on difficult, rough woodland trails with scenic overlooks of Duluth, MN and St. Louis Bay of Lake Superior, including the infamous “power lines” to the Duluth Zoo and back. If you've never run "the Voyageur" before, you should give it a try and join the club!

2010 Minnesota Voyageur Race Report

2011-02-27T14:21:00.000-08:00

Dusty Olson

The 29th running of the Minnesota Voyageur Trail 50 was one to remember. We had a record number of entrants, the winning time was under 7 hours for the first time in 12 years, and our women’s champion notched her fourth victory - more than any other woman except for Debbie Bennett’s five. It was also our first year as race director for this classic north woods ultramarathon.

The Minnesota Voyageur Trail 50 has been around since 1982, the year that Gene and Barb Curnow, fixtures in the Duluth area running community, created the event. In fact, the Voyageur is one of the oldest ultramarathons in the nation. The Curnows nurtured the race and watched it grow into an event that has a special old school feel and is sort of a rite of passage for upper midwest area ultrarunners. As new race directors, we didn’t want to change things too much. After the race, our men’s champion Chris Gardner let us know we were on the right track telling us we updated just enough (website, online registration, new maps) but didn’t change the feel of the event. That was the best compliment we could have gotten, because that’s exactly what we had hoped to do with this race. The Curnows started a real good thing and we wanted to honor all of their hard work and dedication to the race by keeping it much like it always has been.


Chris Gardner surfing the powerlines

And what a race it was! Local running icon Dusty Olson started out fast like last year with a very fit Chris Gardner right behind. John Storkamp, Chris Lundstrom and Brian Peterson were hot on the leaders heels through mile 11 just before entering the infamous “powerlines” section. By Skyline at mile 22 the lead had changed and Chris Gardner was now running strong in first. Dusty was hanging strong in second after emptying his stomach on the ski trails. John Storkamp and Chris Lundstrom were looking really strong only a minute or so back in 3rd and 4th place.

Kim Holak

On the women’s side, Kim Holak had established a solid lead by the Skyline aid station and was looking forward to the turn at the zoo and heading back uphill across the Spirit Mountain Ski Resort. Heading uphill is what Kim really likes to do. At Skyline, April Cole was still within striking distance only a couple minutes back with Angie Radosevich and Connie Lutkevich close behind.

About this time, the clouds decided to open up and the rain started to fall. It rained off and on for a couple of hours at this point, cooling the runners but also creating a muddy clay slip-and-slide for the runners in the powerline section. The return trip for our leaders was destined to be “fun.”

At the Zoo turnaround, Gardner looked strong with Dusty close behind. Dusty had also lightened his “load” in the bushes since Skyline and was ready to roll back to the finish. Chris Lundstrom was now in third with John Storkamp still running strong in 4th. The top four runners were still very close at this point and it was still unclear who would be the strongest back to the finish. Dusty remarked as he left the Zoo aid station that he wondered how Gardner could climb. It was clear that Dusty was still feeling good. By the time the leaders arrived back at the Skyline aid station Gardner was still in the lead, but Chris Lundstrom had cut his lead to only 2 minutes and had overtaken Dusty in the process. The race was on! It looked as if Lundstrom might overtake Gardner before the Beck’s Road aid station at the 50K mark.

At the turnaround Kim retained about a 5 minute lead on April but Angie was right there now as well and looking strong. Connie remained in fourth running a very smart race. By the 50K mark at Beck’s Road, Kim had widened the gap slightly to 8 minutes over Angie who was now running very strong. Could Kim maintain her advantage and stay in the lead? How far back was Connie and was she surging on her way back to the finish?

Chris Lundstrom

Despite running strongly, Lundstrom, a 2:17 road marathon runner, could not overtake Gardner and the lead remained about 2 minutes at the 50K mark. At each aid station, Gardner continued to slowly widen the gap on Lundstrom. By the powerlines, a muddy bottomed Gardner had established a solid lead. The powerlines were indeed a mess and Chris said he surfed down some of the steep muddy hills in an effort to keep his pace up.

It seemed that the only question now was whether Gardner could break the seemingly untouchable course record of 6:41 set in 1998 by Scott Jurek. By Peterson aid station it was clear that the course record would be safe for another year. However, it was also apparent that Gardner would more than likely finish under the exclusive 7 hour mark.

Chris Gardner

At the finish line race fans were anxiously awaiting Gardner’s arrival. Sure enough, just after 6 hours and 55 minutes into the race Gardner burst into view. With a strong final kick, Gardner crossed under the finish line arch to break 7 hours with a spectacular time of 6:55:52. Only Voyageur legends Roger Pekuri, Scott Jurek and Jarrow Wahman have finished the race faster. Lundstrom remained strong to the finish line finishing in a stellar 7:13:14 for second while Dusty Olson ran a race P.R. to finish with the fastest 3rd place time ever in 7:26:14.

Over in the women’s race, things were getting interesting. Just before the Seven Bridges aid station at mile 37, Kim pulled in to get aid and was told to look over her shoulder. Not more than 200 yards down the trail, first time 50 miler Angie Radosevich was closing in fast! This lit a fire under Kim and she headed out quickly to tackle the steep and now very slippery powerlines. She had no choice now but to hammer this hilly section as hard as she could. And hammer she did! By the next aid station at Grand Portage 3 miles away, Kim had once again built a lead of a couple minutes over Angie. Angie remained strong but couldn’t match the speed the Voyageur veteran maintained over the last 11 miles to the finish. Kim continued to widen her gap over Angie and finished strong with a winning time of 8:30:09.

Connie Lutkevich

Meanwhile, Connie Lutkevich was also picking up speed. Just before entering the last stretch on the paved Willard Munger Trail into town, with less than ½ mile to go, Connie caught and passed Angie to finish second 36 seconds ahead of Angie in 8:44:07.


Tom Bunk

There were many great stories throughout the day. Many runners were finishing their first 50 miler, some their first ultramarathon on a challenging day. Tom Bunk notched his 23rd finish while looking strong and comfortable all day as he always does. Chad Silker from Missouri exemplified the ultrarunning spirit when he got lost while in 5th place overall near the 14 mile mark. When informed that his misfortune would add about 6 miles onto his race distance he took it in stride, promptly turned around, ran hard back to the point he got off course and still finished the race in 37th place. We have a feeling Chad will be back and that next time he’ll nail the course! Special thanks to all of our wonderful volunteers. Already looking forward to seeing all the runners again in 2011!