The Half Voyager was my first real trail marathon (5th overall). It was incredible. Forget about time and focus instead on the beauty, challenge and wonder that exists in the world. The race was awesome. Literally, one of the most visceral experiences I've ever had. It was only my 5th marathon, but the running field was small, friendly and so supportive. Seriously, I made a bunch of friends during the run - partly because of the difficult course. Very, very hilly.

My dad ran this race some years ago, so I had some idea what I was getting into when I decided to go for it. I didn't realize I would have the most fun race of my life.

Don't get me wrong; the race wasn't a frolic through the forest. It was an arduous, rugged hill-fest that required all of the tenacity I could muster. The course starts with a relatively easy climb to the top of Spirit Mountain- about 600 feet in five miles, but with good footing and on pretty wide trails, though they can pretty much all be mucky.

If you talk with people about the course, you will almost invariably hear a few of the same things: Power lines, and Jaro's (spelling?) Beach. The beach is a boulder field filled with sharp-edged rocks, but you get that out of the way by mile seven or so. The power lines are another story altogether. Imagine a 45-60 degree embankment with a swath cut through it that climbs for a couple of hundred vertical feet. Then, go up and down some of these three times or so. And did I mention that since it is under power lines you are fully exposed to the heat of the sun? And the trail surface is clay? Bad news if it rained (it hadn't for my race).

But don't let any of this discourage you. Being surrounded by the forest and landscape is as motivating as cheering fans in some ways. And the support people at aid stations (every 2.5-4 miles or so) are hugely helpful and for a so-called no-frills race, it is well stocked: water and energy, plus cookies and bananas, Coke, salt, and more, especially at the later stations.

If you're not from the northern Minnesota area, I think you'll be impressed by not only the beauty of the landscape but the gracious hospitality of the residents as well.

A must-run race, if you're up for a challenge!

This was my first time running the Half Voyageur, but I have run the full 50 in previous years. I decided to run this as training for the 50 this year. The course is a lot of fun and provides a good challenge. It is a very low-key and relaxed atmosphere. The volunteers were VERY helpful and the organization was great. I would definitely run again!

Most gratifying test that I have ever completed. Great, low-budget, intense workout that requires both mental alertness and physical fortitude. Depending on the year/course, you will either have a faster course with hills or a slower course with hills. Loved it. Got wet, dirty, and a little bloody. Well worth the price. Only recommendation for improvement is to update the website and maps for the marathon - they are all intended for the ultra, and this can be confusing to newcomers/spectators. Good opportunity to go primal in the woods with a couple of other crazies. Bring two pairs of shoes and socks. Take your time at the water stops... replenish and recover. The power lines are best managed by slowly overcoming them... otherwise they will sap you of your own power. The final 2.5 are pretty technical and require dancing feet and "toes up" running to avoid both river rock and root... and being that you have already put down 24+ miles, that's kind of tough to do. The frontrunners are amazing and put down some incredible times - they were referred to as "goats" for their ability to scamper through technical/rocky terrain so quickly. My favorite race ever.

After Grandma's, this one is always a piece of cake!

Had I known what the course was like, I never would have signed up with as little trail-training as I did. It was only my second marathon (my first being Grandma's in June of this year), and I disregarded the warnings from past runners about its difficulty. The greatest part about the whole run was seeing these ultra-marathoners in action. (Many did this as a training run for the 50-miler there in 2 weeks.) They are so kind, and so tough, and they are the types of people I want to be like. I was surrounded by heroes. I completed the race in a few minutes under six hours. Now that I've done something I would've thought was impossible, I realize I can do more, so I signed up for a 50-miler in October. The volunteers and directors were awesome. I'm coming back next year. Thank you, Voyageurs!

Everyone warned me about doing this race - and that made me want to do it. The lack of rain provided a dry course, but it was still challenging, with plenty of hills, rocks, and roots; not only is your lower body challenged - but your upper body is too (balancing), and your MIND is challenged as well, because you have to stay focused the entire time. The organizers are GREAT! I asked if I could buy an extra finisher shirt (I always lose/wear them out), and they were very cool about that. I will be back, and I'm now hooked on trail running!!

I'm trying to run all fifty states. This is just beautiful. The scenery was so pretty - overlooking Lake Superior, the cable bridge, the dam. The power lines were slippery and very washed out, but very nice. Water in different places up to our knees. Muddy feet. Lots of mossy rocks to climb over and very tricky footing. I would run again. At one time I thought I was lost. (Add about 1 - 1.5 hours to your marathon time). Staff was great and very encouraging!

After completing many marathons, the Voyageur is the race that I feel the most accomplished from. To run in a regular marathon, with drones of spectators and the hoopla of crossing a crowded finishing line, leaves one filled with a false sense of importance. The Voyageur is a race that forces runners to dig deep within themselves to finish. There is only Mother Nature as your viewing crowd and she can be very unassuming and treacherous. Thank goodness there are the volunteers at their stations, just to remind you that you are not out there alone, and relief that someone cares even if you have already been out there for 5 1/2 hours.... Thanks to all and hopefully I can muster up enough strengh to do this race again next year.

This past Saturday, July 10, 2004, I participated in the Eleventh Annual Half Voyageur Trail Marathon. This was a point-to-point trail run from Duluth to Carlton, Minnesota, over rough woodland trails. It was a full 26.2-mile marathon, but was a warm-up for the Full Voyageur Trail Ultra Marathon that will be run in two weeks, which is an out and back race on the same course. It was my first trip to this part of Minnesota, and my introduction to trail running.

I arrived in Minneapolis at about noon on Friday, and drove up I-35 to Cloquet (Clo-kay), MN, where I stayed for the weekend. Cloquet is very near Carlton and the finish of the race. I have been to Minnesota several times and find Minnesota to be a very attractive and friendly state, particularly at this time of year. Everything was green, and the temperature was relatively cool at 60 degrees. The forests and fields looked lush and inviting on this July day.

After arriving in Cloquet and settling into my hotel room, I decided to drive to Duluth and do some exploring. Finding the start of the race was one objective, but I didn?t think that would be too hard, since it was supposed to begin in the parking lot of the Lake Superior Zoo. The terrain between Minneapolis and Cloquet had been relatively flat, with an occasional rolling hill here and there; however as I headed from Cloquet to Duluth, the terrain became much more rugged, and as I drove over the last hill before Duluth I saw that Lake Superior was about 700+/- feet below me. I knew immediately that the description of the race as being 'ruggedly challenging' was something I had not yet experienced in my running career. I had run the Grandfather Mountain Marathon a couple of years ago, but somehow I just knew that this race was going to be somewhat more challenging. I found the zoo, toured Duluth and some of the shoreline of Lake Superior, and decided to go find some pasta.

Saturday morning, many runners met at the finish line at 5 AM to carpool to the start. I linked up with some very nice folks from Madison, WI, and Des Plains, IL, who were all experienced trail runners. They were impressed that I traveled all the way up from Macon, GA, for the Half Voyageur. They thought I must be a dedicated trail runner to do that. When I said that no, I was not a trail runner, that actually this was my first trail run/marathon replacing my planned visit to Duluth three weeks prior for Grandma?s Marathon that got preempted by work, they all chuckled and said that I had picked a pretty good one to break in on. One of the Madison folks who has run this race before started describing the course for me, and the more he talked the more difficult the course sounded. I had read the comments about the race on Marathonguide.com, but that was in the comfort of my home in Macon 1300 miles away, not less than an hour before actually beginning such an adventure. Now, approaching the start of the race it sounded like it started out hard, then got real difficult. Oh boy!

We arrived at the zoo at about 5:30 AM, and there appeared to be about 150+ participants getting ready for the race. Temperature was cool, in the upper 50's and the sky was clear. With a high expected in the mid-seventies, it was going to get warm by Minnesota standards, but remain cool by Georgia standards. This was a low-cost, no-frills event, but even so it was as well organized and smoothly run by the Northern Minnesota Track Club as any race I have entered. The race started precisely on time, give or take a few minutes. From the zoo parking lot we ran in a westerly direction, away from Lake Superior and up into the forest-covered hills. The first obstacle came within the first 200 yards, when the trail narrowed to allow only one person to pass at a time for a distance of several hundred yards. A situation that arose often during the race, although with the small number of participants it was not a real problem. The trail rose gently but steadily for the first two miles or so and at one point provided a spectacular view of Lake Superior down a ski lift, the only view of the lake for the entire race. The race proceeded through the forest over well-worn and not-so-well-worn trails. Trails with great names such as the Gill Creek Trail, The Munson Trail and The Grand Portage Trail. Where there was no trail, the race organizers had worked very hard to make one, cutting away most of the tall grass so we could see where we were stepping, and the entire course was very well marked. Despite the excellent job done marking the trail, there were a few occasions where racers missed critical turns and had to backtrack to regain the course.

One of these turns was just before a section that I think was called Glacier Beach, which came at about 5 miles into the race and is a very, very difficult section about ¼ of a mile long over small, medium and large rocks/boulders where progress was made by jumping, walking and slipping from rock to rock - no flat trail at all in this part, and no running. After leaving the 'beach', the next big challenge came at the power lines, an approximate 4-mile stretch that has long, very steep rises and descents made worse by the small amount of moisture on the ground. Gene, who had become my running partner in this race, told me that in 1999 this section, actually the whole course, was exceptionally difficult due to the heavy rains that year. The average time required to cover the power line section in ?99 was between 1.5 and 2 hours. This year it only took about 3/4 of an hour to 1 hour or so to do it. Coming out of the power lines with little more than 9 miles to go, I felt that it could not get too much harder, and I was ready to push it home. I was wrong: it got harder!

Thank goodness for the aid stations and volunteers! They were strategically located to come when you needed them the most, and the volunteers were specifically recruited for their overt optimism and trained to encourage and support you so that you felt you had to, no, you must continue to the end! 'For sure you've come so far, you can't stop now, can ya?' Gene and I finally got to the last aid station, 3.4 miles from the finish, which was actually back in civilization in the parking lot of the State Park where the final leg of the marathon is run. The volunteers cheerfully told us that there were no more hard hills between the finish and us. I told Gene that we should go for it over the final three miles, and he laughed. He said that there were no hills, but the footing was treacherous. He was right, we ended up having to walk, carefully, a fair amount of the last three miles.

With little more than ½ mile to go, we exited the forest onto a paved bike trail, where we began running again. With the finish line almost in sight, our pace started faltering again! Gene and I both said, almost in unison, that no way, after running together for more than 10 miles, were we going to walk in. We were gong to finish together, running. We dug deep and ran the final distance, and we crossed the finish line together. Our time, at 6:35:26, was well behind any of our traditional marathon times, more than 2 hours behind my 2004 marathon average of 4:24:00. It was also much faster than Gene had done the course in ?99. The overall men?s winner completed the course in 3:33:29, and the women?s winner in 4:05:00. Gene?s wife Laura was the 4th overall female, finishing in 4:45:00.

Post-race was, again, no frills, but there was plenty to drink and some nice snacks. One of the local residents whose house is very near the finish line allows the runners to use a hose in his yard to rinse off. And believe me, everyone needed to rinse off after 26-plus miles through that terrain (I don?t think I mentioned the mud holes strategically placed so that you had to go through them, not around them). The friendliness of the folks in Northern Minnesota cannot be understated. Many complete strangers approached me after the race to ask how I was feeling and could they help me with anything. 'Ya know, you really should see about that limp!' I proudly wore my race tee shirt to lunch after the race and received many comments and compliments on completing it ('Look Marge, another one of them running nuts!'). While not many people run it, the race is a well-known local race with a much-deserved reputation for difficulty ('Boy, I'd never run it, that's for sure!'). Many of the locals who ran it also ran Grandma?s Marathon three weeks before as a training run!

This race set a new standard for difficulty, duration and fun. I am definitely hooked on trail running and will be looking to work more of these events into my schedule. I highly recommend the Half Voyageur Trail Marathon. It was a great experience.