The Fall Trio: Three Races, One Last Push Before Winter
There’s a certain kind of quiet that shows up in western Wisconsin and southern Minnesota once August lets go. The light changes first. Then the humidity backs off, the bugs thin out, and the trails start smelling like dry leaves instead of green growth. If you’ve been running out here for more than a season or two, you know exactly what I’m talking about. This is the good stretch.
It’s also the stretch where our calendar gets busy. Three races, six weeks apart from each other, each one a little different in flavor, but all of them built around the same idea. Get outside, test yourself against something real, and stand around afterward with people who get it.
I want to walk you through all three, because I think together they tell a pretty good story about what this fall can look like for you.
September 26: In Yan Teopa opens the door
First up is In Yan Teopa, out at Frontenac State Park above Lake Pepin. This one has history. It ran for over twenty years under a previous race director before I took it over, and every year I’m reminded why people keep coming back. The bluff views alone are worth the drive, but the course doesn’t let you coast through them. You’ve got rolling prairie, tight single-track through the trees, and climbs that make you earn every one of those views at the top.
Pick the 5-mile or the 10-mile. Either one will show you something. If you’re newer to trail running, this is a great starting point because it has a little bit of everything without being punishing. If you’ve been at this a while, you already know why this course keeps pulling you back.
September in Frontenac has a way of making a Saturday morning feel like the best decision you made all week.
October 10: Trout Brook takes you off the beaten path
Two weeks later, we’re at Willow River State Park for Trout Brook. Now, you’ve probably run Willow before. Most people around here have. But Trout Brook takes you somewhere in that park you likely haven’t seen. It ditches the wide, familiar trails for tight single-track, a stair section that will absolutely test your legs, and a waterfall that stops most runners in their tracks, whether they meant to stop or not.
By this point in October, the leaves are turning, and the trails are firm and fast. This isn’t a course for cruising. It rewards runners who like technical terrain and aren’t afraid to work for it. If that’s you, you’ll finish this one with a grin you can’t quite explain to people who weren’t there.
November 7: Icebox closes it out
And then there’s Icebox. This is where the season goes out with everything it’s got.
Icebox isn’t like the other two. There’s no set distance to chase. You pick a 4-hour or 8-hour window, you get a 5-mile single-track loop at Whitetail Ridge, and you run as many laps as your body and your will allow. In that final hour, a 1-mile bonus loop opens up, one last chance to squeeze something extra out of legs that are already negotiating for the finish line.
This race has been around for nearly 15 years now, and in that time we’ve watched people cross over into ultramarathon distances for the first time right there on that course. One runner who did it a few years back described it simply as a nice run through the woods, which honestly undersells it. It’s a full day in the woods with a community of people all chasing the same strange, simple question. How far can you go when the only thing left to beat is yourself?
November in River Falls has a bite. That’s part of the point.
Three races, one invitation
You don’t need to run all three. Most people don’t. But I’d bet that somewhere in this trio, one of these speaks to you. Maybe it’s the bluff views at In Yan Teopa. Maybe it’s the technical grit of Trout Brook. Maybe you’ve been quietly wondering what you’re actually capable of, and Icebox is the place to find out.
Whichever it is, the trails will be there, the aid stations will be stocked, and a whole community of people will be glad you showed up.
Pick one. Register. I’ll see you out there this fall.
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