Dances with Dirt Devil’s Lake Half Marathon

Runners in both the full marathon and the half marathon follow an out and back course that starts inside Devil’s Lake State Park just off County Highway, near the entrance to the Steinke Basin Loop. Once out on the trails, runners will make their way through the Steinke Basin Loop, crossing County Road before continuing on the Johnson Moraine Trail, as well as along portions of the historic Ice Age Trail, which winds along 1,000 miles through the state and highlights how glaciers carved the landscape millions of years ago throughout this part of the country. Runners will trek through a combination of stretches out in the open air and through the tree-covered woods, along which the trails may be narrow or more wide-open, depending on where they are in the park. The trail will also take runners along the park’s South Bluff, which unfolds mostly along a downhill for the next mile or so and features gorgeous views of Devil’s Lake off to the west and the hills all around. Once runners reach the mile 5 marker, however, the course starts climbing uphill again, over the course of a long ascent upwards for the next few miles into the area known as the Steinke Basin. The course climbs uphill some more between miles 7 and 8, where there’s a smaller downhill and uphill, and then begins a steady descent as runners make their way back onto the Ice Age Trail, for the last stretch into the Steinke Basin Loop for the race finish.