As many of my BibRave friends, and running friends in general, know; Gopher to Badger is my favorite all-time race. It's the only race I took the time to nominate for the BibRave 100 as well. This was my fourth year in a row running the race, so let's dive in to the 2017 edition of Gopher to Badger.

This was actually the first time I ever picked up my packet the day before the race. Normally I grab it in the morning on race day (which is a very easy option), but I had some extra time on Friday, so I nabbed it early. Packet-pickup was at Run N Fun, a local Twin Cities based running store. Very quick and easy pickup, and the store of obviously there if you need any last minute gear.

This is now one of the few races where you still get "things" with your bib and shirt. Of course, those things take the form of race ads, and a couple other small freebies. The four main things you'll get are your bib, timing chip, shirt, and socks. Yes, this race gives you socks. Either maroon and yellow or red and white striped socks, depending on the state you are representing.

Fast forward to race morning. It was 50 degrees with only a 52 degree dew point when I woke up, a welcome change from what I've been running in this summer. Almost everyone parks at the finish line by the bandshell in Hudson. If you arrive early, there is some super convenient street parking available, otherwise, there's a lot about a block down from the finish that almost never fills up. There are only three porta-johns at the park in Hudson, so don't plan on hitting a quick pre-race bathroom stop here. Just hop on the bus and get to Stillwater. This year, they were really pushing to get on the buses early to get to the start. Not sure why, there is plenty of space and plenty of buses.

The start line is at the Stillwater fairgrounds where there may or may not be an event going on, depending on the weekend. This year, we had the grounds to ourselves. There are a lot more bathrooms here, and the lines go pretty quick. It helps that this is a smaller race (only about 1,000 in the Half).

As the start approaches, the pacers line up in the corral and then the runners can line up accordingly. I've never seen any issues with runners lining up out of place in this one. I'm sure it happens, because it does with most races, but I haven't seen it.

I really like to break the race (mentally) into four parts.

The first part of that is literally the first half of the race. The first 6 and change miles wind you through a couple local neighborhoods. Here you'll get your fair share of rolling hills. There's nothing too crazy to climb, but you won't be spending a lot of time on flat ground; just lots of up and down running. So prepare for that. There are three aid stations with water and Gatorade in this first part of the race. You'll have a nice straight shot for most of mile 6 (down and up a gradual hill) which can be a killer if it's a warm day. Fortunately in 2017, we had sun, but it wasn't overly warm. You pass the 6th mile marker on your way up the largest climb of the course in your final neighborhood run. You end that climb with the largest downhill section of the entire course.

And that nicely takes you into part two of the course: Stagecoach Trail. That's the name of the road you'll be spending some quality time with over the next two miles. It's an almost entirely flat side road just outside of Stillwater. This section includes one aid station and you'll pass both the 7 and 8 mile flags out here. And don't worry, you can see them from forever away.

Fortunately, that's only two miles of your time before you turn off that road, hit mile 9, and descend down to the river. Over the next couple of miles you'll get a couple more rolling hills (not even as bad as the start) and will alternate between bike paths and roads. There's an aid station right at mile 9, and you don't hit another until just past 11, so plan accordingly.

After the aid station at mile 11, you'll begin your ascent to the I-94 bridge. This is a sneaky uphill that can get you at this point in the race. We had a calm day on Saturday, but that bridge is always windy. It's exposed, and you have car and truck traffic generating quite the wind. The only good part about the bridge is that it's almost all downhill (literally) from there. Coming off the bridge, you hop back on a pedestrian trail and take it the final mile and change back to the bandshell. To me, this section seems like the longest mile ever. You're just on a sidewalk going along the river the entire way. You do get some nice crowd support in the last half mile for so.

Note, this course is notorious for being long. To a T, it's about 200m long every year. Which is fine, but be aware if you're shooting for a specific official time, you'll need to run a hair faster than you think.

The post race area is normally pretty good. Water, food, and whichever sports-type drink is sponsoring the race is available. So are massages. Noticeably absent from this year's race was Goldy the Gopher (the mascot normally makes an appearance) or any likeness of Goldy or Bucky. So I'm guessing we've seen the last of a gopher or badger gracing the race shirt or medals, which is too bad.

The race seems to alternate between good and bad weather each year. This year was excellent, so I'm going to anticipate next year being absurdly hot. Still, though, this remains my all-time favorite race.