(From left to right) First Aid volunteer Chaz and Communications volunteers Duane and Alec at the Finland aid station – Photo Credit Pete Hagen
Dear Friends,
Those of you who have received a thank you letter or two from me over the years—and many of you are up to a dozen or more at this point—have probably caught onto my formula by now. As I move through race week, a few themes always emerge for me. They repeat, eventually getting lodged, then looping in my sleep-deprived brain.
This year, the idea of “reps” took hold.
It started early in the week with the small team that helps put up road signage. It grew when we welcomed the 40+ trail-marking volunteers on Wednesday night, and it fully took hold as I watched the logistics, communications, parking, check-in, aid station, sweeping, finish line, finish area and cleanup teams get to work. These are all groups that get little to no “reps” together until race weekend. While a handful of you gain some experience with each other volunteering at other races throughout the year, and others return to this specific event year after year, the majority of you find yourselves working together for the very first time.
With that in mind, I am completely blown away every single year by how seamlessly, selflessly, and beautifully everyone works together. You set pride and ego aside. Leaders emerge naturally. So many of you just know exactly what to do. You care for the runners, and for each other, always working toward the good of the whole.
Some of us (my hand is raised highest here) have had to learn and relearn that we will never do it all perfectly. But knowing that we are doing this alongside other good actors—people who want nothing more than to be of service to those around them—is an absolute blessing.
Thank you all for giving so selflessly of your time and skills this past weekend. Cheri and I appreciate you, your fellow volunteers appreciate you, and the runners appreciate you. There is an incredible amount of magic that happens at Superior, and none of it is possible without YOU.
Testimonials:
Before, during and after each race Cheri and I field countless emails and hand written letters from participants, crew, pacers, friends, family spectators and volunteers, raving about the event, which as we know, is raving about you. I always try to share at least one, if not a couple.
I’m a Superior Finisher! I can’t believe I can type these words. This past year has been brutal with two knee surgeries and a ton of rehab after not walking on my left leg for 3 months. Through all of the recovery, I had one goal in mind – Make it to the starting line of Superior. My goal felt so far away at times, but it kept me. Motivated to do the very mundane work to build back my strength. This race is magic. From the volunteers, the atmosphere, and of course the SHT itself, I feel so proud to live somewhere where an event like this exists. I am so proud of myself for making it, and hope that this note conveys just a small portion of my gratitude. I imagined myself at that finish line thousands of times over the past year and hearing my name called out as a first time 50 mile finisher was genuinely one of the most meaningful experiences I have ever had.Thank you for making these races and these experiences possible. With all my gratitude – Whitney
I felt compelled to reach out and say thank you not only to you and all the volunteers, but a few specific people who helped me during the race, as I had no crew. One was a fellow at Sonju who helped me work through my issues of not keeping food down. He calmly offered simple advice to overcome this problem and really looked out for me while I was there. The other two people were at Crosby-Manitou where I ended up dropping from the race. I believe one was Jacob B., at least he looked like the Zumbro 100 2025 winner in the dark, early morning hours. He helped me with the same calm set of simple solutions to try to keep me focused on overcoming issues and moving toward the finish. He offered to look at my foot, a complete stranger, and I knew as soon as I saw it that I was done. He helped me temporarily bandage my broken and massively infected toe, then went to work on finding me a ride to a place with cell service. I cannot give enough thanks to him for this. The last person was the man who was delivering water to the aid station. He gave me a ride back to Finland, and made sure there was a warm spot for me to wait for a ride, all while giving me just the right amount of ribbing about how it sucks to have been so close to completing the gnarly bandit series and then dropping out. These acts of service to others, to strangers, is a beautiful thing that makes not being able to finish a little less disappointing, hurt a little less , and will keep me coming back for more. Please pass on my gratitude, I hope that I can pass on the same sense of selfless service to others as I received this past weekend. Sincerely – Peter.
Housekeeping:
Our aid station captains do a great job of getting the giveaway out to volunteers (t-shirts this year), but sometimes things stay just busy enough at the aid stations and a few don’t get passed out. If you did not get your t-shirt for volunteering at an aid station, or another position, please email us and we will get one in the mail for you ASAP.
Aid station captains and other volunteers, if you have expenses for aid station food or other extras that you provided and would like to be reimbursed, please email us your receipts.
Next Year:
In addition to thorough preparation in the months leading up, the hands down, single most important element of a well executed race is having a core group of the same volunteers return, year after year, roping in a friend or two, taking ownership of, and mastering the finer points of their specific assignments / jobs. We are blessed to have many volunteers contact us in the weeks after the race to say – “count on me next year for the same exact thing, I / we will handle it” – this is an absolute boon when putting together the following years event. For those of you who have made that kind of multi-year commitment, please keep coming back as long as it is still fun and rewarding. For everyone else we invite you to do the same. If and when you go to sign up to volunteer for the 2027 race, please be sure to mention in the ‘notes section’ where it was that you helped in 2026 and if you would like to do the same thing again. If there is something new you would like to try, there is a lot of value in that as well.
In Closing:
Cheri and I cannot thank all of you enough for all that you contribute to the event. We hope to see most of you again next year for the 37th annual. As always, if you need anything, please reach out.
In Community,
John Storkamp
Race Director
Superior Trail Race
The logistics crew transport 10’s of thousands of pounds of water, food, equipment and drop bags on race weekend – photo credit Eric Hadtrath
Most of the 40+ Thursday course marking volunteers, many have been marking trails at Superior for 10 or more years, some for 20! – photo credit Scott Rokis
Volunteers checking in runners as they come off of the buses – photo credit Tone Coughlin
Volunteers helping with check in / re-check at at the marathon start – photo credit Christine Armbruster
Some of the many volunteers from the UMD Nordic Ski Club at Crosby-Manitou – photo credit Rara Istifadah
Beaver Bay Aid Station Captain Jim Stocco using his megaphone and a well placed volunteer to keep crews and spectators off of the road and runners crossing safely – photo credit Christine Armbruster
Sweep volunteers clearing the Temperance to Sawbill section – photo credit Scott Rokis
Communications and runner tracking volunteers Rick and Wade in Net Control at the race finish – photo credit Jayne Johnson
Some of the Finland Aid Station volunteers with aid station captain Amy Clark – photo credit Pete Hagen
Some of the nearly 100 aid station bins that get dropped off and picked up by the logistics team on race weekend – photo credit John Storkamp
Volunteers don’t just help runners, they help crews help their runners – photo credit Christine Armbruster
Michael announcing finishers in the timing tent, it is always a nice touch when you hear your name and number of finishes announced as you cross the finish line – photo credit Tone Coughlin
Pete, one of many photographers out capturing the magic at Superior – photo credit Christine Armbruster
“The Mom’s” as in John and Cheri’s moms (often with Bonnie, Erica and others) putting in countless hours washing dishes after Superior – photo credit John Storkamp