Zumbro 2023 – Photo Credit Scott Rokis
Greetings Runners,
With about two and a half weeks to go, I wanted to check in, and extend an early welcome to all of you that have registered for the 2024 Zumbro Endurance Run so far! I will, as usual, be sending out our final / week of ‘2024 Zumbro Endurance Run Runner Welcome’ email / after registration closes, with final updates and more, but I wanted to quickly share a handful of things with you…
As a reminder, Zumbro is on Friday April 12 and Saturday April 13 2024. Registration will remain open until Thursday April 4, 2024 at 11:59 PM CST – so if you have friends or family still planning to register, you can give them a nudge.
As always, if your plans have changed and you can no longer make it to the race, there is no need to contact us. We will know you are not running when you do not show on race day. That way if your plans change, then change again, you just remain registered and still have the ability to race.
Now is a good time to study up on the Zumbro race website – everything you need to know about getting to the race, the distance you are running, and the race course can be found on our website.
Up until this recent snowfall, Zumbro was as dry as I have ever seen it this time of year and the Zumbro River was about as low as I have ever seen it. I ran a 17 mile loop with a buddy a week and a half ago and it was sublime. We will see what the next couple of weeks brings, but I would be shocked if the river / river bottoms water level were to come up high enough to force us to the highwater course (like last year). But as we know, if Zumbro wants to Zumbro, it will. As of today, I expect that we will be on the traditional Zumbro race course. That said the DNR has been working on closing some unauthorized trails in the management unit (you will see the orange snow fencing they have been using to block off certain trails), and it is forcing one, maybe two very minor tweaks to the traditional race course. One of them is right out of the race start, but it is probably a change for the better anyways as it is a wider trail with less obstacles, so runners will have a chance to spread out a little more right after the race start(s). This small change, like everything else, will as always be very clearly marked.
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While we are getting the itch to get back to t-shirts for the event giveaway, we still have not done everything we want to do with hats. Over the Fall and Winter we spent a ton of time designing, from the ground up, what we think is the perfect running hat. It hits on all the technical features you want in a running hat; breathable, lightweight, crushable and stowable, while still maintaining enough shape to look great. All runners and volunteers will receive this good looking hat. We ordered some extra so if you want to pick up an extra for crew, pacers, friends or family, you can. As always we will have all kinds of Zumbro and RSR swag available at Zumbro, but due to no cell / 4g in Zumbro Bottoms, it is cash or check only (no PayPal or Venmo) so please plan ahead. You can always shop on our website as well HERE https://www.rocksteadyrunning.com/shop/
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Another project we undertook over the winter is something we have wanted to do for a very long time. We are excited to introduce and offer for sale these super cool Zumbro course map and elevation chart art prints. We are producing these prints with a close friend of ours, in his local shop. Each print starts its life as a full sheet of plywood that we are going and picking up, transporting, ripping to size, routing, sanding, printing, packing and transporting to the race(s).
These are being printed with super durable UV inks, on high-quality pieces of 1/2″ baltic birch plywood. Please note that plywood has a lot of character – kind of a contemporary / industrial look. Each print will have its own unique variations of wood grain, and ‘imperfections’ (character). Please note that race courses are subject to change over time, with temporary or permanent reroutes. As a result the race route, elevation, distances and data represented on the print is not meant to be empirical / may change slightly over time. Over time we will update the artwork that we use to print these representing any significant course changes that end up becoming permanent.
17″W X 11″H Zumbro Endurance Run course map $45, elevation chart $45, and 8.5″H X 11″H RSR logo art print(s) $30 each. Place your order by Saturday April 6 at 11:59PM and we will have your map / chart (s),ready for you to pick up on Zumbro Race weekend. We will only have time / material to produce 75 orders – so this is on a first come first served basis. Cash or check only since there is no cell / 4g / wifi at Zumbro.
If interested, you can place your order HERE https://forms.gle/gAu8WDN1tp8vs3ix8
FYI, in the future we hope to get to the point where we will stock a few of these and have them available on our website for purchase as well, but expect them to cost about $10 more due to packaging and shipping.
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As always, a huge thank you to sponsors and partners. Please take a moment to click the link and check them out https://www.zumbroendurancerun.com/sponsors/
If you are not quite ready to get back to what you were doing, linger a few more minutes and get stoked for what’s to come (maybe pray for the snow to melt and for great weather on race weekend as well) https://www.zumbroendurancerun.com/photos-2023-highlights/
That is all I have for you today – thank you for your time. We can’t wait to see you all soon!
Gratefully,
John Storkamp
Race Director
Zumbro Endurance Run