Photo Credit Scott Rokis
Greetings Runners,
With just under three weeks to go I wanted to check in and extend an early welcome to everyone. I will, as usual, be sending out our final / week-of ‘2026 Afton Trail Run Runner Welcome’ email, with final updates and more about one week out from the race, but I wanted to share a handful of things with you prior to that…
The 33rd annual Afton Trail Run is on Saturday July 4 2026.
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 if you do not show on race day.
If you have friends or family thinking about signing up, registration is open until Thursday June 25, 2026 at 11:59PM CST, or once the field limit has been met. Please give the nudge to those around you so nobody that is intending to run misses out.
Now is a good time to study up on the Afton race website – everything you need to know about getting to the race, the distance you are running, and the race course can be found there.
VERY VERY IMPORTANT PARKING DETAILS. It is EXTREMELY IMPORTANT that you understand how parking works for the Afton Trail Run. Most participants will park at Afton Alps and will have a 15 to 20 minute walk up to the race start. Detailed information is available via the 25KM and 50KM race info pages and a recap of the information is available HERE https://www.aftontrailrun.com/parking/
As I have been training for summer race goals race myself, it has been fun seeing so many of you out at Afton ‘running the loop’ on the weekends. We will be starting weed whipping and clearing trails at the park this week and things continue to come together for race day!
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T-Shirts:
This year’s t-shirt design is a tip of the cap to those demanding Afton hills, that blazing hot prairie loop, and the need to stay hydrated and fueled in order to have a good race! This fun character is being featured on all our race shirts this season (Zumbro HERE and Superior Spring HERE)! We will have a limited number of HOODIES with this same design for sale at the race.
Nerd’ing out if I may… This shirt has been year’s in the making. Designing and sampling / prototyping them was of course a lot of fun, but an insanely time-consuming affair. There is a reason you don’t see many 7 color race shirts as its complex and hard to pull off well. For this years t-shirt we went with a 100% cotton with the same weightless water based ink we normally use on our t-shirts. These shirts are the exact same cut / fit as the triblend fabric shirts we have been using for years, so your normal size should fit perfectly. We will also have a limited number of hoodies for sale at the race. A note about fabric and sizing on the hoodies – this print is going on what we are calling the RSR Heavy Blend 8oz Hooded Sweatshirt. If you have bought hoodies from us in the past, these are different. They are a little heavier. We love the fabric and the generous hood in conjunction with this full color design. The material is 50% cotton, 50% polyester. These are sized similar to our other hoodies to start but they do shrink a touch more. If the previous hoodies you have purchased from us were just on the small side for you, you may want to size up.
Beyond the giveaway t-shirt we will as always we will have all kinds of Afton and RSR goodies available for sale at the race. We also have items available on our website HERE https://www.rocksteadyrunning.com/shop/
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Our friend Les passed away in May. He was 82 years old. Our friend Dave (a 15 time 50K finisher) had this to say… “Les completed over 500 races of marathon or longer, including 16 Afton 50K’s and 1 Afton 25K. Not only was he a legend in the trail running world, but was truly one of the people in the running community that embodied and embraced the spirit of the trail running scene.” Les’s wife Cindy would usually volunteer with us at Afton while Les would run, or once in awhile run herself – our thoughts and prayers are with all of Les’s loved ones. Let’s all run a lap (or two) for Les this July!
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Welcoming ACG!
We are incredibly excited to introduce ACG (All Conditions Gear) the historic Nike outdoor and trail focused brand as a sponsor of the Afton Trail Run and all Rocksteady Running races! Our local Nike/ACG reps are fervent runners themselves and are no stranger to our events and our local trail community. We could not be any happier to have them on board! As always, if you need running gear please support our independently owned running store sponsor Mill City Running, and while you are there, be sure give ACG a look!
Welcoming Best Day Brewing!
One of the owners of California based Best Day Brewing participated in a Rocksteady Running race and were impressed with the experience. In short order they reached out to see how they could get involved and support us and our trail community. We are so stoked to announce that Best Day Brewing will be providing us with the best non-alcoholic beer (and we would argue one of the best beers period) at the finish line of the Afton Trail Run, and all of our races in 2026!
As always, a huge thank you to sponsors and partners. Please take a moment to click the link and check them out https://www.aftontrailrun.com/sponsors/
Mill City Running
ACG
Vaniply / Vanicream
Steve Smillie Edina Realty
Afton Alps
Art and Science Family Dentistry
Bridge Realty – Bill Pomerenke
Northwoods Running
State Farm Insurance – Geri Martin
Best Day Brewing
Trail Transformation
Performance Running Gym
Consilience Coaching
Climb Above Endurance Coaching
Mile in My Shoes
St. Croix Law
Critical Connections Ecological Services
If you are not quite ready to get back to what you were doing, linger a few more minutes checking out the photos on the homepage of our website and get stoked for what’s to come!
That is all I have for you today – thank you for your time. We can’t wait to see you all in three weeks!
Thank You,
John Storkamp
Race Director
Afton Trail Run