Tag Archives: Bayfield

Running on an Ice Road

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This past weekend we visited the Apostle Island Ice Caves and spend the night on Madeline Island.  Yes the Ice Caves are stunning and I’d recommend checking them out if you can sneak away before the ice melts!

Normally there is a ferry that runs between Bayfield, WI and La Pointe, WI which the town on Madeline Island.  However during the winter there is an approximately 2 mile road that gets plowed between the two towns.  This is a fairly wide road and gets closed due to high wind and snow as the crews work to plow it out.  When we left Saturday morning both the Ice Caves and Ice Road were closed, fortunately they were both open and ready for us when we got to them!

I was hoping to run on the Ice Road, but the place we were staying was a little too far and I didn’t have enough time for a longer run.  I do recommend that if you are looking for a place to stay on Madeline Island that you check out Paul on AirBnB.com


Every year there is a big race across the Ice Road.  The race is a 4.2 mile out and back on the Ice Road.  The 20th Annual Run on Water will be held March 2, 2014 and by all appearances looks like a fun event.

From their website:

The 20th annual “Run on Water” is a family fun event open to people of all ages and skill levels. Participants can choose to run, walk, ski, snowshoe, bike, skate or even skijor the 4.2-mile course on the famous “ice road” across frozen Lake Superior from Bayfield to Madeline Island and back.  The race will start on the Bayfield side.  Participants must go around a stake on the Madeline Island side about 2.1 miles away, then return to the start.  Participants can choose their own course to turn the stake – on the ice road, off the ice road, straight or curving.  All entrants will be started and timed together.  Awards will be given to the top runners in age/gender group categories, and the fastest finishers in non-running modes.

One of these years we’ll go up for the Bayfield Winter Festival and I’ll get a run across the Ice Road. The festival looks to be a lot of winter crazy fun.  Have you ever been to the Festival or run across the Ice Road? Or any ice races?

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Another Training-Less Week

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Last Year

I ran the 2008 TC 1 mile in 5:27. It was a slightly different course and atmosphere.  Last year had a big focus on the Olympic Games.  I wrote about competition and whether doping was part of the Olympic Spirit.  Have you heard about the Elite Running Cookbook? I still think it would make a great present (hint, hint). Foto Friday was from a muddy trail run at Hyland Hills.  This time last year we also found out that Oscar Pistorius would be allowed to compete for a spot on the Olympic team.

Run: 10.6 Mi
Bike: 21.6 Mi

Last Week was pretty much another down week.  Still letting my foot heal up. Until the weekend.  This was my first “mancation” trip with my running friends to Bayfield, WI.  My tweeted summary says it well:

3 days, 3 tough but scenic runs, 33+ miles, 3 beers, 3 blisters 3 ticks. Snow, Sun and Superior. A fun and sucsessful weekend.

I won’t go into much detail about the runs, except they all had a lot of hills, great scenery, and the kicked my butt! Below are pictures from Google Earth and the elevation charts.

Our first run was in transit to Bayfield and was on the Birkie Trail, home of the American Birkebeiner  Ski Race. It was 11.13 miles in 1:37:01.  (all distances are a little off due to sharp turns and lots of trees, but provides a strong estimate).

Run number two was Saturday morning on the Teuton and Valkyrie Ski Trails in the Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest.  We ran 10.17  miles in 1:27:07.

Run number 3 (which I skipped) was on the Jerry Jolly Trail. Run number 4 (my third) was at the amazing Jay Cooke State Park. We ran 11.03 miles in 1:48:06 (which included scenic overlook and walk breaks).

Weekly Mileage
Running – 32.3 miles
Biking – 32.8 miles

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