April Sorensen Memorial Half Marathon & Relay

Saturday, July 8, 2017 • Albert Lea, MN • Course Map

Run in the memory of a Rochester, MN, woman whose young life was cut short at far too early an age, the April Sorensen Memorial Half Marathon celebrates her life by inviting runners to come out and enjoy one of the things she loved most during her lifetime, running marathons, relay races and race distances of all kinds.

This half marathon race is organized by her family and the April Sorensen Memorial Foundation, which donates its proceeds from the race to both scholarships for area students as well as to help maintain the Blazing Star State Trail, a paved running, walking and hiking trail that, when complete, will stretch 20 miles from Albert Lea to the nearby city of Austin, and take runners through southern Minnesota’s Big Island State Park.

For runners in the half marathon race — which is open to both individual runners and two-person relay teams, both coed and male and female teams — the event will follow a point-to-point course that starts along East Main Street in Albert Lea, and then follows a route that hugs the shoreline of Albert Lea Lake for much of the race before ending up at the finish line in Hayward, which lies just a few miles east of Albert Lea on the eastern side of the lake.

The race route has a few hilly stretches — particularly in the section along the lakeshore between miles 4 and 5, along Frank Hall Drive, and then again later in the race along County Highway 19, between mile markers 9 and 10.

Otherwise, the course follows a largely fast and flat route between the two cities. Runners will be running along the lakeshore from about mile marker 2 through mile marker 9, which means that the lion’s share of the race unfolds right by the waters of Albert Lea Lake.

Runners will have three hours to complete the race. Following the race finish line festivities, shuttle buses will be provided to transport runners back to their cars, parked near the starting line area near Main Street back in Albert Lea.

Race Weather & Climate

Located just miles from Minnesota’s southern border with Iowa, roughly 95 miles south of Minneapolis, Albert Lea typically sees its warmest weather of the year in July, which has brought record temperatures here as low as 44 degrees (in 1992) and as high as 101 degrees (in 1995).

On race day (July 8), the average low is 61ºF and the average high is 82ºF.

Past Results

Course Map

See the race route map for the April Sorensen Memorial Half Marathon here.

Starting Time

7:30 AM

Fees

See race website

Registration

To reserve your spot in the 2017 running of Albert Lea’s April Sorensen Memorial Half Marathon or Relay race, visit the event website here.

Official Race Website

www.livelaughloverun.com

Comments

Ever run in the April Sorensen Memorial Half? Share your impressions here, or post your review in the Comments below.

See more races in: July, Minnesota

1 comment… add one
  • Kristin Bergdale August 9, 2019, 8:27 am

    The April Sorenson has actually turned into Wander the Water Half Marathon and Relay. Please visit our site or email us for more information. Thank you!

    Reply

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