Here are my planned 2024 races!
Everything from the mile to the marathon because I like a variety of race distances! Almost all of the races are in Minnesota and most in the Twin Cities area. I would love to travel for a couple of races, but we’ll see as time goes on if I can swing that. I definitely would like to travel for a late fall/early winter marathon. Fall races from mid-September to the end of October are pretty much out since Craig will be busy in the field harvesting during that time. I am leaning towards running CIM (California International Marathon) again at the beginning of December. I love the race, it’s a fast course, the time is right, but part of me feels like I should experience a new race?!
2024 Races
March 23 – Hot Dash 10K
This will be a bit of a rust-buster, I’m sure as I dip my feet back into racing again. I love the name of this race, and they have some pretty cool swag at the end. This is the first year they are doing the 10K, so we’ll see how competitive it is.
April 7 – Goldy’s 10 Mile
I’ve heard great things about this race. It is a bit hilly, so not too fast, but you do get to finish on the Gopher stadium infield.
April 27 – Get in Gear 10K
This is a very competitive race as it is part of the racing circuit here in Minnesota. It will be a good opportunity to run fast and have others push me.
May 27 – Brian Kraft 5K
Another race in the racing circuit. It would be fun to be able to set a PR at this event since I’ll have a lot of people to run with.
June 22 – Garry Bjorklund Half Marathon (Grandma’s Half)
I am SUPER excited (but also very nervous) about this race as I got into the elite field! I guess that’s one benefit of being a master’s runner, you can qualify with slower times and be accepted into the elite field.
July 4th – Freedom Run 5 Mile
This is my small town’s little 4th of July race. It’s everything you would imagine a small town race being: no chip timing, very minimal entry fee, informal staging area, etc. I run to the start for my warm-up and enjoy seeing other runners from the community.
July 21 – Raspberry Run 1 Mile
I did this race for the first time last year, and it was hard but good! Good until I realized the banner draped over the road was only a kilometer into the race instead of the finish. The wheels came off a bit after that. Ha! It was also super competitive and the only downside is that they don’t do chip timing for this event.
July/August – Tracksmith 5000
It was a little nerve-racking to run on the track, but the community was so supportive of everyone running in the heats. Let’s just hope the heat index isn’t in the 90s this time.
September 8 – City of Lakes Half
I have run this race two times and definitely want some redemption on this course. It’s a good place to run fast–as long as it isn’t too hot, so I am hoping for a speedy half at this event.
October 6 – Twin Cities 10 Mile
Sadly this race was canceled last year, so I am excited to be able to run it again this year.
??December 8 – California International Marathon (CIM)
This is the one race I am unsure of yet. There is so much I love about CIM, but I also feel like I need to experience a different marathon. I’m going to feel things out as the year goes on, but I definitely do want to run a marathon this year. (I did not run one last year in 2023!)
I am really excited about all of these races. Now that I have started to figure out the Minnesota racing scene–and have met some people through friends or social media–it makes it that much more exciting to go to these events. I am optimistic about my fitness and that it will lead to a lot of fast, successful races. I’ll be sharing about each and every one of these races, so keep following along!
Make sure you’re following along on Instagram, where I post daily!
