9 Reasons to Do the Superior Sawtooth 100 Mile
Posted by scott on August 20, 2011
There are far more reasons to not do any 100 mile race than there are to do one. But here are 9 reasons to do the Superior Sawtooth 100 Mile Run:
- Awesome singletrack, and loads of it.
- Breathtaking scenery.
- 36-ish hours in the wilderness.
- Rocks, roots.
- Fantastic aid stations and aid station volunteers.
- A great Race Director (and family).
- Carleton Peak, Temperance River, Moose Mountain, Crosby-Manitou gorge(s).
- Hearing the Poplar River near the finish.
- Epic everything.
These factors are big enough for me that I feel a pull to tackle this race, even if I’m not quite ready. You should enter any race with a goal to finish, but this is one where any time on the trail is a great time.
Here’s to 102.6 miles on the greatest trail in Minnesota!
Run Like Monkey 
SteveQ said
10) All day all-you-can-eat buffet.
11) Trying to explain it to your non-running friends.
12) Trying to explain it to your non-ultra non-trailrunning running friends.
13) Finishing on a different day than someone else.
14) Not hearing anyone’s phone all day.
15) Running the Sonju woods five times (okay, that was just me).
16) Bees, bears and beavers.
17) Get to see the 50 Milers and Marathoners toward the end.
18) Donny Clark’s clear markings and the flashing beacons telling you you’re near a cliff in the dark.
19) Sometimes the weather’s nice.
20) Not much traffic.
scott said
Steve, there are many great ones there… excellent contributions. I’ll bet there is quite a story behind your #15, and it makes me think of:
21) Option to run the scenic overlook loops for bonus miles.
And what about:
22) One of my couple-of-chances-per-year to see Steve Quick.
Will you be up there? Perhaps bushwhacking up an adjacent peak and knocking me over when you cross the trail?
SteveQ said
I’m planning on doing some climbing in the woods in the Arrowhead that Friday and will stop by at least one aid station to check in on things.
Jordan Hanlon (@jhanlon31) said
Great post Scott, I’ll see you up at Sawtooth. Reason #9 Epic Everything pretty much sums it up.
Matthew Patten said
20) Life is short
22) Might as well make the best of it
23) Get to hang with me
scott said
Jordan – I totally agree, that sums it up for me. Hope to meet you up there at the pre-race dinner, say hi if you see me.
Matt, you are so right that a big part of races like this are a chance for people to get to hang with “A” list ultrarunning bloggers like me. Oh, wait – did you mean you?
Reason for Running Superior Sawtooth 100 Mile Trail Race | jordanhanlon.com said
[…] through this is because this an awesome event. Scott summed it up perfectly in his blog post on why he's running Sawtooth with reason number nine. "Epic everything." Having been a […]
Aaron B said
24) Actual course mileage has increased: 2011 race – 103 miles!