Swan Lake Marathon

I had a goal to run a marathon before turning 50 & the Swan Lake Marathon was the perfect race to accomplish this goal! The rainy, wet spring made the course a little tricky but the event coordinators worked hard to make the course safe & doable! The gravel roads were great for joints & the scenery was a perfect setting for this farm girl!

This is a nice little race for anyone seeking to run SD. No fancy medals, no crowds, but it's well organized with great volunteers. Definitely stay at the camp the night before, eat the pasta dinner, and have the lunch afterwards. They let you keep your room long enough to shower after the race. Great 50-state RD as well. The wind was very unpleasant and there was some mud due to excess rain but they can't control the weather. They also have a back-up USATF certified route (which we ran this year) in case of flooding. Some bigger races could learn a lesson from this. :)

I ran the half marathon here the day after the Sandhills half in Nebraska. There was no comparison between the two in terms of which event had better organization and a friendlier atmosphere. Swan Lake wins hands-down! The camp staff and race personnel were second to none in terms of hospitality. We stayed at the camp lodge, and I highly recommend it: super cute décor, walk to the start, and they told us checkout time was 'whenever we were ready.' Race day was excessively windy, but that is no one's fault; it's just something to be prepared for if you plan to run here. I do much of my training in rural areas on dirt roads so this course made me feel right at home. Anything this race lacks in crowds and hype, it makes up for with friendly volunteers and special little touches. As the women's division winner, I took home a nice basket of homemade goodies. The post-race brunch had excellent options, and they had free gels available at check-in the day before. My sole complaint is that the finisher's medal was pretty unimpressive (some people run for bling!), but I appreciate that they spent as much of the proceeds on camp scholarships as possible.