Son and Father-In-Law 50K Finish, Roy and Les – Photo Credit Cheri Storkamp

 

AFTON, where the magic keeps on happening.
I cannot tell you how many amazing conversations and interactions I had this past weekend. I hope you had the same opportunity to connect; with others, with yourself and with the trail. A huge thank you to all of the incredible runners, spectators, state park staff and volunteers. You can read my ‘thank you’ to our “noble” volunteers HERE https://www.aftontrailrun.com/2021-volunteer-thank-you/ , I think you will enjoy it.

I love the picture above, it is of our friend Les Martisko and his son-in-law Roy. Les and his (oft volunteer) wife Cindy are ATR family from way back. Les has run 16 Afton 50Ks (and 468 marathons / ultras over the years) and was blessed with the opportunity run most of the race with Roy, who completed his first ever 50K at Afton – congrats Roy! Roy is ATR family now too.  Like I said, experiences and connections.

 

A few words from our runners:
“Thank you for the well planned race and thorough communication leading up to it. I thought it was a great way to get back to racing post-pandemic. I didn’t know what to expect, but really enjoyed the whole experience from check-in to cooling down and watching people finish. – Josh”

“I just wanted to send a quick note to express my gratitude and appreciation for the efforts that went into Afton this year. It was obvious that there were a lot of challenges and that a lot of thought, heart, and effort went into the race. Everything was awesome and my interactions with everyone involved was truly wonderful. Much thanks to the entire crew! Kind regards. – Shawn”

 

Stats & Results:
Combined 25K & 50K:
550 registered, 515 starters, 507 finishers, 8 DNFS.

25KM:
387 registered, 361 starters, 360 finishers, 1 DNF
Results HERE https://www.aftontrailrun.com/25km-results/

50KM:
163 registered, 154 starters, 147 finishers, 7 DNFs
Results HERE https://www.aftontrailrun.com/50km-results/

 

Photos:
As always our volunteer photographers try to get photos of as many runners as possible. Images are for personal use by race participants – if you are sharing photos on your social media etc., it is always good form to credit the photographer. If you’d like to use an image for a commercial purpose (e.g. publish in a magazine, use to promote a product etc.), please contact photographers for permission and terms of use.  https://www.aftontrailrun.com/photos/

 

Housekeeping:
T-shirts and medals just went into production and we will be mailing them out once we take delivery of them – we hope to have them out to you in a couple of weeks. I liked the 2019 t-shirt design so much that I did it in a different color scheme for 2021 – you can check it out HERE https://www.aftontrailrun.com/2021-race-shirts/ Medals are a little different than years past (but awesome), you can read more about that and see an image of them HERE https://www.aftontrailrun.com/new-afton-finishers-medals-2021-and-beyond/

 

In Closing:
Again, I cannot thank you all enough for your participation, support and friendship. I am looking forward to rest of the year.  We are hoping to do just one Endless Summer Trail Run Series Race the first week in August, a reunion of sorts, we are working on getting that permitted now. We plan to have the full series back in 2022. For those interested in our Superior Fall Trail Race in September, we just sent out an update today, which can be found HERE https://www.superiorfalltrailrace.com/superior-fall-2021-updates-july-7-2021/ If you have not already, you can sign up for the RSR mailing list HERE https://www.aftontrailrun.com/join-our-mailing-list/ to stay apprised of the latest on all of our events.

As always, should you have any questions or need anything, please reach out.

 

Thank You,

John Storkamp
Race Director
racedirector@superiortrailrace.com

Afton Trail Run
50KM & 25KM Trail Races
Afton State Park – Hastings, Minnesota
Saturday July 4, 2020
50KM 6:30AM
25KM 7:30AM

Registration:
Opens Wedneday January 1, 2020 at 12:01AM CST
Closes Friday June 26, 2020 at 11:59PM CST
*Or once the field limit has been met
Complete Registration Details HERE

Directions to Race Start:
Afton State Park
6959 Peller Avenue South
Hastings, MN 55033
Hastings, Minnesota
Google Maps Directions HERE
Approx 25 minutes East of St. Paul, MN and 40 minutes East of Minneapolis, MN

Terrain / Course Description:
The Afton Trail Run consists of a hilly 25K loop (two loops for the 50K), winding through Afton State Park’s trail system. The race is held 100% off road, primarily on very runnable / not very technical single double and single track. There are 7 long climbs per loop, rising from the river valley and down again with a good mix of rolling and flat terrain between the hills.  Be sure to see maps, elevation charts and stats provided on this website HERE.

50KM:
2 x 15.5 mile loops =  31 miles
Elevation Gain 4,670 FT
Elevation Loss 4,670 FT
NET Elevation Change 9,340 FT
11 Aid Stations
9 hour time limit
Complete 50KM Info HERE

25KM:
1 x 15.5 mile loop = 15.5 miles
Elevation Gain 2,335 FT
Elevation Loss 2,335 FT
NET Elevation Change 4,670 FT
5 Aid Stations
8 hour time limit
Complete 25KM Info HERE

More About the Race / Area:
The Afton Trail Run is one of the most challenging and beautiful trail races around.  The race was established in 1994 and is now one of the oldest, largest and most competitive trail races in the country and routinely draws runners from all 50 states and beyond.  The race takes place entirely within the borders of Afton State Park.  Afton State Park lies on a glacial moraine, scribed with deep ravines running down to the St. Croix River.  The 169 mile St. Croix River was one of the original eight United States rivers to have significant portions placed under protection by the National Wild and Scenic Rivers Act of 1968.  Within the park sandstone outcrops have been exposed in some of the ravines. The vertical drop from the blufftop to the water is 300 feet.  A few patches of remnant prairie survived the decades of farming that took place on the blufftop. Today the former fields are being restored to prairie and oak savanna. The ravines leading down to the riverbank are thickly wooded with oak, aspen, birch, and cherry.