2023 Trail Race Series Info!

2023 Sioux Falls Run Club Trail Race Series!

We are back for year 7 with a return to Big Sioux Rec and a new permanent partner race at Good Earth State Park!

All Race Registration Closes June 1st!

Sign up for all 4 races by June 1st for a special swag race shirt!

A race every month from June to October!

Every race chip timed by 605 Running Company!

New swag, free kids races, points series, sign up today!

One Ear Deer Dash at Oak Grove
3.5 & 7.5 Mile Distances
June 3rd - 9am (7.5) | 9:30am (3.5)

Registration for all 4 races:

• ONLY through the One Ear Deer Dash registration page until June 1st! There will not be a separate sign up for the last 3 races in the series. Special swag gift for signing up for all 4 races.

Duathlon Option:

• This year's Deer Dash Trail Races have joined up with the Gear Up for Summer Bike Rides to create the Grover Coaster Duathlon, combining a road or gravel bike ride with either distance of the Deer Dash Trail Races! For further duathlon details and registration, follow this link HERE.
• Grover Coaster participants will be timed and receive swag from both events.

Race Details:

• Back for the second year and still floored by the 100+ participants we had for the inaugural event in '22! Make the drive south and see why so many people registered for this race or make a weekend out of it and camp right in the park! As noted above, we will only have ONE signup period for all 4 races that includes the special swag gift, so get signed up before June 1st HERE!  

Swag:

• Orange Mud Transition Towel!

Volunteers Needed!
Sign up HERE!

Tuthill Park Trail Races
3 & 6 Mile Distances
FREE Kids Race
July 29th - 8am| 10am (kids race)

Registration for all 4 races:

• ONLY through the One Ear Deer Dash registration page until June 1st! There will not be a separate sign up for the last 3 races in the series. Special swag gift for signing up for all 4 races.

Race Details:

• We are partnering with the Sioux Falls Bike Racing group again for their annual Trail Festival weekend. The course should be about the same as last year with some minor adjustments possible. Click HERE for all the race details and to get registered!

Swag:

• Custom Crew Athletic Socks!

Volunteers Needed!
Sign up HERE!

Big Sioux Rec Trail Races
2 & 5 Mile Distances
FREE Kids Race
September 16th - 8am  | 10am (kids race)
 

Registration for all 4 races:

• ONLY through the One Ear Deer Dash registration page until June 1st! There will not be a separate sign up for the last 3 races in the series. Special swag gift for signing up for all 4 races.

Race Details:

• We are back at Big Sioux Rec after a three year hiatus and Kristi Wire has designed an awesome buffalo mascot for us! This is a beautiful park and is pretty flat compared to a lot of our other courses. We'll have a new 5 mile course this year to go along with our 2 mile race, and a kids race too! Get all the details and register HERE! 

Swag:

• Drink hot/cold mug!

Volunteers Needed!
Sign up HERE!

Newton Hills Trail Races
2 & 6 Mile Distances
October 14th - 9am

Registration for all 4 races:

• ONLY through the One Ear Deer Dash registration page until June 1st! There will not be a separate sign up for the last 3 races in the series. Special swag gift for signing up for all 4 races.

Race Details:

• There is nothing quite like running at Newton Hills in October. Our series will wrap up here with the 22nd running of the event and it never disappoints. Let's cross our fingers that we can keep the trend going from the past couple years in having absolutely spectacular weather too! Check out all the details on the race and get registered HERE!

Swag:

• Collapsible Camping Chair!

Volunteers Needed!
Sign up HERE!

605 Trail Festival @ Good Earth
4 & 8 Mile Distances
FREE Kids Race
August 12th - 8am | 10am (kids race)

Race Information:

• 605 Running Company is proud to present the first annual trail race & festival at Good Earth State Park at Bloodrun. We will be offering an 8 mile race, a 4.5 mile race and a kids race.
• We are offering an all inclusive park experience including footwear vendors, food and beverage vendors and more experiences to be announced.
• This event is an official Sioux Falls Area Running Club affiliate race, which means you can earn points toward the overall race series. Additionally, proceeds from this event will benefit the running club and the mission to promote trail running in the area.
•  The Kid's Race is FREE for any child 2-10. This will be a run/walk for fun. All kids that wish to participate must be registered. 
• For more information and to get registered, click HERE!

F.A.S.T. - State of the Dirt

 Thanks for your support of Falls Area SingleTrack! 

We’re looking forward to continuing our mission to protect, create and enhance quality trail experiences for mountain bikers in cooperation with other trail users in the Sioux Falls area during the 2023 season!

Our goal for 2023 is to focus on community engagement, and trail-building education to foster the next generation of trail builders and to continue to develop new trails along the Sioux River Greenway. Be on the lookout on our social channels and website for trail building, maintenance, and education opportunities. 
 

What have we accomplished since the last state of the dirt? A ton! Here are the key takeaways:

Current FAST board members include:

Ben Blomberg, President
RP Dezell, Vice-President
Thad Barnes, Treasurer
Brad Blomberg, Secretary
Jim Massa, City Liaison
Reva Graves, Marketing/Communications Director
Adam Weischedel, Board Member At-Large
 

The Trail Leaders Program (Formerly Trail Boss)

We have added 3 additional trail leaders to help us keep up with the ongoing maintenance of all of our locations. The following individuals will be our trail leaders for the 2023 summer season:

Andrew Hoy - Dunham & Legacy Parks
Andrew Moore - Tuthill Park
The Lechtenberg Family - Spencer & Pasley Parks
Clay Austin - Leaders Park

We are so grateful to these individuals for stepping up and helping us stay on top of all of the maintenance needs for the summer.
 

Trail Status

FAST continues to maintain trails at the following parks:

• Leaders Park
• Yankton Trail Park
• Tuthill Park
• Legacy Park
• Spencer Park
• Dunham Park
• Pasley Park
• Riverdale Park

The trails are looking good and riding great. We will address any needs to these trails as they arise and will continue to make small improvements to them this year.
 

Trail Updates

Tuthill Park

We have replaced the main drainage bridge and several others with an upgraded bridge design that will be studier and better suited to handle the water flow within the park.

Pasley Park

This trail was officially completed in the summer of 2022. We will continue to maintain and make adjustments to the trail as needed.

Dunham Park

This trail was officially completed in the summer of 2022 as well and we again will continue to maintain and make adjustments to the trail as needed. Already this year we have installed trailhead signs and a bench. If you haven’t already, be sure to check out this new addition.

Great Bear

FAST applied for IMBA's Trail Accelerator Grant Program to help fund the planning and design for this project and was awarded $25,000 in match funding for a trail concept design. We are doing our preliminary walk-throughs with IMBA’s Trail Solutions at the beginning of June. Once a design plan is drafted we will be open to opportunities to coordinate with trail-building professionals and start fundraising for the project in the coming year. We are hoping to release the design plan to the public sometime this summer/fall.

Boulevard Park

FAST has plans to add trails along East River Boulevard in Cherry Rock Park. More details to come on this throughout the summer.
 

25 by 25

So with all these new trails, where does that leave us on our goal of 25 miles of trails by 2025? With all of the additions, we are at around the 16-mile mark.
 

RTP Grant

FAST has fulfilled its obligations and completed the projects associated with the Federal Recreational Trails Program Grant by updating the bridges at Tuthill Park.
 

Events

Follow our social media channels for updates on upcoming rides, volunteer sessions, and other events happening throughout 2023. Some may include:

• Trail Maintenance
• Take a Kid Mountain Biking
• Fundraising Events

Membership

There is strength in numbers. FAST continues to be an independent 501c3 non-profit organization. We are a volunteer-driven, membership-based organization that relies on membership dollars to cover operating costs. All of our work is performed by dedicated volunteers, but the tools, materials, insurance, equipment rental, and a thousand other necessary items all cost money. Your support helps us make strategic investments that will ease the cost of maintenance and allow us to plan and develop new mountain bike trails in the Sioux Falls area. 

Falls Area Singletrack is a chapter of the International Mountain Bike Association (IMBA). We have taken steps in aligning with IMBA and unifying a worldwide mountain biking movement. Organizations more closely connected to IMBA have an increased level of support for sustaining our local group's infrastructure including joint membership. A FAST membership is also automatically a membership with IMBA. 

Membership processing through IMBA is now $39 for a membership fee per member per year or $50 per year for a family membership. There is also a monthly membership option for as low as $5 per month.

Join or renew your membership today!

JOIN FAST-IMBA

Summer Running Tips -

As the summer temps ramp up so do our hydration and nutrition needs! Whether it be a race or training, this topic will remain important. Here are some helpful tips to beating the heat and staying hydrated and energized.

Part of our talk with SFARC member and registered Dietitian Charlotte Kooima! Click Here

Trail Series ‘22 Registration NOW OPEN!

Registration for the entire 4-race series is now live! Complete all 4 races and receive and additional FINISHERS long-sleeve shirt, sporting all four mascots! Membership discount on individual and series registration offered in ultrasignup. 

Click here to register for any or all of the Trail Series races brought to you by the Sioux Falls Area Run Club!

This year the SFARC is shaking up all things 'Trail Series'! For the first time, the SFARC will add a fourth race and an additional race director to the lineup!  Race director, Nathan Schwab, and his trail series crew have been busy finalizing the exciting details of this year’s trail series line-up.  As in previous years, the crew has arranged for two races (always in revolving locations) with the series finisher to be held at Newton Hills State Park. The three races we’re accustomed to running in the series will be held this Aug-Oct; however, this fourth race, will be held on June 4th, and will officially kick off the 2022 Trail Series. 

View ALL THE DETAILS here: https://mailchi.mp/1a8800966521/trail-series-information-13500785

Letter From The President - Winter ‘21

Letter from the President:

Wow! I have almost completed my first year as president of the Sioux Falls Area Running Club. This year sure flew by, and yet, we accomplished so much.  As this year comes to an end, I reflect on some of the amazing things our group achieved. Club members prepared and served 2 meals at The Banquet, volunteered at races like the Skedaddle and Sioux Falls Marathon, co-hosted the kids’ cross-country races, organized running related talks where our members shared their knowledge and experiences, held our annual summer social, and hosted a number of social group runs just for starters. Our trail series had record numbers of participants in each race and the swag was top notch! We also hosted our first trail race for kids, something we plan to make an annual event.

I love seeing new people attend our events! We will have our big winter social coming up soon, so watch your email and social media for details about that. I hope to connect with many of you there!

I have enjoyed watching our club and the Sioux Falls running community as a whole grow over the last few years, and foresee it continuing to do so. One of our biggest achievements in 2021 was getting Sioux Falls designated as a Runner Friendly Community by the Road Runners’ Club of America. This is a huge honor and illustrates what a great place Sioux Falls is for runners! A plaque is now located at City Hall to recognize this honor, which the city has earned for the next 5 years.

I hope to do as much, if not more, for our group this upcoming year. If you have any ideas or event suggestions, please do not hesitate to reach out and let me know! If you are interested in being more involved in the club, we would love to have you! We are seeking more board members and always have volunteer opportunities available.

As always with this time of year please enjoy the holidays with your family and friends. We’ll have lots of running related events coming up in the new year!

See you in 2022!

~ Eva

2021 Trail Series Race Recap

I want to start off by saying a huge thank you to all the volunteers who helped out this year, several helping in multiple roles in several races. Thank you to all our sponsors who helped us with funds and in-kind gifts. And of course thank you to all the participants who signed up, ran, and supported us yet again this year. I'm humbled that in a year when races were a plenty around us, we again set records for signups when we were definitely forecasting less numbers than in 2020, when we were about the only races still going on in the area.

This year we had an awesome mix of new and old. New this year was a race at Great Bear, which has been off limits to organized races for all of its history. We thank the Great Bear staff and board for allowing us to show them that their park is indeed a place that people love, and want to be in for races such as ours. We hope that we can go back in the future and that other races can pop up there now that we've shown it can work. Runners had great weather, albeit humid, and walked away with a Bella Canvas zip up hoodie and smiles on their faces.

We went back to Tuthill after Greg Koch at 605 Running Company had said he'd never heard so much positive feedback from a race at the store, than after the Tuthill races in 2020. Because of the short loop, we pivoted to only one distance and replaced the longer distance race with a kids run. We gathered freebee gifts (ice cream, donuts, arcade tokens, stickers, etc.) for the kids who ran, and they had a blast. We had over 35 kids run, some with their parents. Personally, being able to run a race with my son was very special, and cheering on my daughter as she crossed the finish with her friends was worth all the work putting on the entire series. We definitely hope to be able to squeeze in another kids race each year, but we'll have to see how things shake out. We were blessed with more nice weather for Tuhill and runners all received glass bottles with infusers.

And onto the old...as we celebrated the 20th anniversary race at Newton Hills to wrap up the 5th year in the series. As I spoke about in the pre-race announcements, Newton Hills was the first trail I ran back in '08 and it quite literally changed my life. I had been running seriously for about three years at that point, but after running a trail race, I found a whole new level of love an appreciation for running. Next to spending time with loved ones, I don't know if there is anything better than a good trail run to make me happy and fulfilled. We all owe Scott Walschlager a huge debt of gratitude for starting and putting on the Newton Hills race from 2002-2017. Our community must agree with me because we had record registrations for Newton Hills for the second consecutive year. The weather was magnificent with temps above 60 degrees at the start, which is almost unheard of. We also saw the course record fall and everyone stuck around to have Woodgrain beers and enjoy the weather. Everyone got Bella Canvas long sleeve shirts and beer glasses to remember the special day too.

We can't forget our partner races that were both back this year. Oakwood Lakes added a 7.5 mile race to the 4 mile distance they've had for several years. The park is just north of Brookings and the course is pretty flat and has plenty of scenery. The race is held yearly in August and is put on by Andy from the Prairie Striders Run Club of Brookings. It was a great morning and runners got breakfast burritos and yoga following the race. Our second partner race is the Broken Toe Trail Race that is held in the beautiful Stone State Park in northern Sioux City. Tucked far in the park, this small and quaint 4 mile race (2 mile walk/run) runs through the all purpose trails that reminded me a lot of Newton Hills. The race barely touches most of the trails in the park too, so a return trip is definitely a must.

The points series was something we wanted to make easier to understand and also include more people. In prior years, the formula for points was complex and only the overall winners received accolades. This year and going forward, we have simplified the points and will give out awards three deep in each age category. Gift cards were mailed out after the final points were tabulated for all 5 races that you could earn point at, and we're planning on doubling the amount of money going out next year. The overall points earner (M/F) will also get a custom framed print of their race of choice (example here). We hope the point series encourages runners to participate in as many of the 5 races as possible and hopefully we can add more races to the mix in the future.

Speaking of the future, we'll be back next year with another series, and look for some special announcements and different race locations. If you're interested in helping put on races, I'd love to mentor some new race directors. We could put on more races every year with some more help!

Stats:
104 Registered for Great Bear (91 finishers)
101 Registered for Tuthill (88 finishers) 35+ kids finishers
157 Registered for Newton Hills (140 finishers)

$8000+ in expenses & $1200 in gift cards to participants
$6000 raised which we'll likely donate a majority to Falls Area SingleTrack to help build more trails in the Sioux Falls area.

Lastly, if you want to get some SF Run Club or Trail Series swag, head over to the online store by Wire Design Company and get something for yourself. They make great gifts too! HERE

See you on the trails…

Nathan Schwab
Trail Series Race Director
njschwab@gmail.com

A New Shop for Runners & Animal Lovers

Letter From The President

It’s a New Year and with that comes change. As 2020 came to a close Nathan Schwab stepped down as our club president. Nate will continue to be very involved with the club as a Board member and the Director of the Trail Series. We are fortunate to have his continued dedication to the club! I have some big shoes to fill, but I am up for the challenge!For those of you that don’t know me, I’ll share a little about myself. I started running in 4th grade when my teacher, who was a runner, introduced me to the sport. I have been running ever since and cannot imagine my life without running. I ran on competitive cross-country and track teams from middle school through graduate school. Now I mainly run for fun and fitness, and only race occasionally. I have been involved with the running club since I moved to Sioux Falls in 2010 and I look forward to taking on more responsibilities with the club as the President this year. If you have any ideas for the club, let me know!While I am excited to take on my new role with full force, 2021 continues to bring the uncertainties we faced in 2020. I look forward to when we can have a club social and get back to regular group runs and races. Until then, we will continue to get creative, adjust, and be flexible to find fun ways to get our club members connected and involved while staying safe. I plan to create more opportunities for us to get involved and give back to our community. If there is anything you would like to see the run club do, let me know.Until we can get together in person, stay safe and happy running!- -Eva Gut

Run Club Membership Discount!

Just in time for tax season, Fair Tax is offering SF Run Club Members a 30% discount! Call up longtime Run Club member and board member to set up your appointment today!

https://fairtaxinc.com/

Fair Tax Inc
1727 S Cleveland Ave
Sioux Falls, SD 57103
Phone: (605) 336-1669
Email: jeffa@fairtaxinc.com

Interview: Jeffrey LeMair

Jeffrey LeMair started out his athletic career as a boxer, and a darn good one at that, with 9 District Golden Glove Championships and even going toe to toe with the great Sugar Ray Leonard. It was suggested from a boxing coach that he might want to take up running. He had always run as part of his training, but never competitively. Once he took it up though there was no looking back. His passion took over and his competitive drive took hold: 5K, 10K, Half Marathons, Full Marathons, and then the Ultras- 50K, 50 milers, 100K, but a finish at one distance had eluded him- 100 miles.

Jeffrey’s mother was a huge inspiration on his life. When she passed away in May 2019 at the age of 102.8 this became his motivation to once again pursue the elusive 100 mile distance at the age of 66. He set out to look for a 102.8 mile race and finish. Jeffrey decided on the Lost Soul Ultra in Alberta Canada. With the help of friends, Jeffery began training

And then 2020 happened. Like many of us, Jeffrey had to face the heartbreak and disappointment of watching races cancel and postpone all around him. He planned to use many races that were cancelled as a buildup to his 100 miler, but Jeffery kept pushing on. At the suggestion of friend (and SFARC member) Andie Weber Bennett, Jeffrey signed up for the Mines of Spain Ultra after the Lost Soul Ultra was postponed to 2021. In addition to his goal race being postponed, injuries started to rear their ugly head: from struggles with hydration and muscle spasms, to a back injury that required a neurotomy days before the big race, but Jeffrey was determined. 

When race day came Jeffrey was as ready as he would ever be and set out. However, even the race itself was not without its hiccups. There were times he took a wrong turn and missed an aid station, but that only motivated him to know he was closer to his 102.8 mile goal. One of my favorite things about the running community is its encouraging spirit and this race was full of that spirit. An aid station attendant who had planned to pace a different runner handed his clipboard and pen over to another person and left to guide Jeffrey on his last few miles because exhaustion had taken over and which way to go had become confusing for Jeffrey. 

Despite all of these challenges, Jeffery finished his first 100 mile race with plenty of time to spare at the young age of 66! 

Being able to sit down and hear his experience leading up to and through the race was nothing short of inspiring. As someone new to running, it was truly an honor to share a table and a conversation with a gentleman who has logged over 62,000 miles, the old school way, in small calendars since he started running. Jeffrey embodies the spirit of the running community in his generosity, humility and encouragement. He is truly a legend in so many ways.

Jeffrey plans to run the Lost Soul Ultra in 2021 because as he put it, it’s a great race, well put together, and he’s already paid for it. We look forward to hearing all about it!

By Ben Hoefer