Photos from the "New" TC 10 Mile Course

So it was announced that the TC 10 Mile would have a bit of a detour this year. There was a big washout back in June along River Road where we usually run (around mile 2), and that's STILL not stable or open to traffic. It will be permanently repaired in the spring. (Mpls Park Board website HERE which includes a link to a map, and a Star Trib article HERE from June when it first washed-out.)

The detour will be from about mile 0.5 through about mile 3 where it joins up with the normal race course at Franklin Ave and River Road. I rode the "new" parts of the course on my bike early in the morning about 10 days ago (shortly after it was announced). After a few blocks of the normal course, we'll be taking a right off the road and onto a bike path. That path leads to a tunnel about a block away that goes under Interstate 35W:

On wide bike path with tunnel in the distance.


In the tunnel. It's pretty wide, but is it wide enough for all the runners a half-mile into the TC 10?

After the tunnel, there's a short, quick downhill, and a shorter uphill to get onto a pedestrian bridge. Here's the view looking out onto the bridge:

On the bridge, looking right to the Washington Ave Bridge (a little shaky because I was riding).


Crossing the bridge. Seems to be a LITTLE wider than the tunnel.

So the tunnel looks like it will be the bottleneck point. Although in a press release, we all heard "Where the course runs on the Dinkytown Greenway, a lane will remain open for use by the general public." So that will make things tight.

Just after the bridge, there's a SHORT but NASTY uphill section. Here's what it looks like:

With a horizontal line drawn under the windows of that building,
showing the steepness of the hill.

At the top of that hill, we get a little break. It's flat for just a bit, and then there's a long, pretty gentle downhill that takes us under the Washington Ave Bridge, along the Weisman Art Museum, and to the area behind Coffman Union on the U of M campus.

THEN A LONG, KINDA BRUTAL CLIMB. I know this area well - I used to run with Henry in the stroller on the paths along the river under the Franklin Ave Bridge up to the Washington Ave Bridge. I ran this route when I wanted some hills. And this final climb is the nastiest. It's a few blocks up, and then we have to veer right to stay on River Road. At that point, it FEELS like you're done, but there's still another block or so to climb.

Then it's flat-ish for a few blocks, followed by a short, nice downhill once you cross I94. After that, we're back on the "normal" route right around the "mile 3" marker, and we get about a mile of pretty flat roads along the river.

The "new" parts of the route have a lot more going on than the "old" route - it could be a lot more mentally draining by the time we hit the "mile 3" marker. Here's the "old" route in blue (from about mile 0.5 to 2.5), and the "new" route in red:

The lower version has 2 thick red lines added in by me because we don't drop down to run
directly across the water's surface, and the 2nd "glitch" is crossing I94 (I think).

So in PREVIOUS YEARS we just sort of went down, had a few small hills, and then came back up. But THIS YEAR we've got a lot more going on. The quick climb after the river is going to suck, and then the climb starting at mile 1.17 on that map is really going to suck.

But in a good way. I love this race.

Tomorrow, I'll post a bit about what I HOPE to do in the 3 races this weekend in the "Loony Challenge." CLICK HERE for some good advice on how to approach a WEEKEND of races.