Dances With Dirt Devil’s Lake Marathon, Half Marathon

Saturday, July 8, 2023 • Baraboo, WI • Course Map

Several hundred runners turn out each year for the annual summertime Dances With Dirt Devil’s Lake races, which feature a full, 26.2-mile marathon, a 13.1-mile half marathon, a 50-mile race for both individual entrants and relay teams, a 10K race and a 50K ultra race along the challenging hills and trails of southern Wisconsin’s Devil’s Lake State Park.

The routes for all of the event’s races are gorgeously scenic, as they take runners through this roughly 10,000-acre park’s hills and trails and feature views of high bluffs and cliffs, ponds and lakes, all within a short drive south of the nearby city of Baraboo (the original home of the Ringing Brothers circus), just south of the Baraboo River and north of Lake Wisconsin.

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.

Race Weather & Climate

Located in the southern portion of Wisconsin, about an hour’s drive northwest from Madison, Baraboo typically experiences its warmest and wettest weather conditions of the year in July and August, on average.

On race day (July 8), the average low is 59ºF and the average high is 83ºF.

Past Results

• 2022 Half Marathon Results
• 2021 Dances With Dirt Devil’s Lake Half Marathon Results
• 2019 Dances With Dirt Devil’s Lake Half Marathon Results
• 2018 Dances With Dirt Devil’s Lake Half Marathon Results
• 2017 Dances With Dirt Devil’s Lake Half Marathon Results
• 2016 Dances With Dirt Devil’s Lake Half Marathon Results
• 2015 Dances With Dirt Devil’s Lake Half Marathon Results
• 2014 Dances With Dirt Devil’s Lake Half Marathon Results
• 2013 Dances With Dirt Devil’s Lake Half Marathon Results
• 2012 Dances With Dirt Devil’s Lake Half Marathon Results

Course Map

See the race route map for the Dances With Dirt Devil’s Lake Half Marathon here.

Starting Time

• 5:30 AM – 50-mile, 50K
• 6:15 AM – full marathon
• 7:00 AM – half marathon
• 8:00 AM – 10K

Fees

• $69 – $80 for the half marathon
• $99 – $110 for the 50 mile ultra
• $84 – $100 for the 50K
• $79 – $95 for the full marathon
• $49 – $55 for the 10K

Registration

To reserve your spot in the 2023 running of Baraboo’s Dances With Dirt Devil’s Lake Marathon, Half Marathon, 10K, 50K or 50-mile races, register online at the official race website below.

Official Race Website

dwddevilslake.com

Comments

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See more races in: July, Wisconsin