From the numerous runners who come out to run the race in Halloween costumes of all kinds to the 5K running event in which participants are allowed to bring their dogs along for the race — the “5K-9” run — it’s no wonder that St. Paul’s Team Ortho Monster Dash Half Marathon has seen its number of entrants grow to more than 8,000 runners in the half marathon and 10-mile races alone.
For its 2023 running, the race runs through St. Paul along a fast, flat course that will offer an excellent chance to set a PR time, as it’s all downhill from start to finish. This year, the half marathon and 10-mile races will start at the Cathedral of St. Paul, and from there start out with a 4 1/2-mile-long east-to-west stretch along Summit Avenue.
Once runners reach East River Parkway and Mississippi River Boulevard, the course pretty much keeps runners along the banks of the Mississippi for the rest of the race. This all-downhill course is a fast one, organizers note, with an overall elevation that drops about 400 feet between the start and the finish line.
The course — which is also USATF-certified — winds along the river, along East River Parkway and Shepard Road, all the way to the 10-mile race finish line on the edge of Crosby Lake Park, and then all the way to the half marathon finish on Shepard Road, just past the Smith Avenue bridge.
The race also hosts a costume contest — so you can run all 13.1 miles (or 10 miles or 3.1 miles if you’re running the 5K) in costume. There will also be a costume contest at the end of the race.
