Preview: Minnesota Brothers Trail Series

Over the next four days, I’ll be running a series of marathons called the Minnesota Brothers Trail Series.  It’s a series of four trail marathons on four consecutive days in central Minnesota.

The Minnesota Brothers are Daniel Rueckert and Jesse Rueckert.  Two years ago, Daniel and Jesse bought Mainly Marathons from Clint and Hanne Burleson.  Mainly Marathons has multi-day series of marathons all over the United States.  Most of them involve racing in a different state on each day of a series.  This series is entirely in Minnesota, which is where Daniel and Jesse live.

All four races will be on some type of trail.  We’ll be running on a different course each day, but they’re all within 15 miles of St. Cloud, MN.

The races all start at 5:30 AM.  From where I live, the drive time to the race venues would be at least an hour and a half, so I’m staying in a hotel.  The race venues are close enough to each other that I can stay in the same hotel for the whole series.  That makes this series more convenient than one where you have to stay in a different hotel for each race.

I’ve done other series like this, but the last time I did one was in 2017.  This will be the first time I’ve run marathons on consecutive days since my back surgery two years ago.  I think I’m finally ready, but I’ll be running cautiously.  My only goals for the individual races will be to finish.

For years, I’ve been pursuing a long-term goal of running every marathon in Minnesota.  I haven’t run any of the races in this series before, so this will bring me four steps closer to that goal.

On a scale of one to five, with five being the most technical, the most difficult course of this series is rated a three.  That’s the first race of the series.  That works out well for me.  I’ll be doing the most difficult course when my legs are still fresh.  Hopefully that means I’ll be less likely to trip on a rock or root.

Like other Mainly Marathons races, each course will be a short out-and-back that we’ll run multiple times.  Typically, there’s one aid station at the start/finish of each lap.  It’ll be well stocked with a variety of foods and beverages.  The laps are short enough that I won’t need to carry a bottle.

My hotel room has a kitchenette with a full-size refrigerator, so I bought some groceries for pre-race breakfasts and post-race snacks.  Doing a series like this is as much about the post-race recovery as the running.  A big part of recovery is getting enough to eat, particularly right after the race.

Hopefully, I’ll find time at the end of each day to post a race report.