The Securian Winter Run is one of the races included in the MDRA Grand Prix. What does this mean? Well, the MInnesota Distance Runners Association has a little internal contest for it's members. Run certain pre-selected races throughout the year and gain points as you go. Normally, I would opt out of a half marathon this deep into the winter. In fact, I wanted to run this last year and I'm not sure why I didn't. It may have filled up? I do believe there is a registration cap. Or maybe it was the colder winter that stopped me.

This year, I took a chance since it was a rather mild winter for Minnesota. And it played out in my favor.

I did pick up my race bib ahead of time. It was at a running store and I wanted the opportunity to be able to show my running charms. It worked well, because they ended up purchasing some for their stores!

My husband accompanied me to this race. According to the race website, covered parking was available for free, but we passed the entrance, and my husband didn't want to fool around so he pulled into the closest corner lot. It was only a few dollars, but with construction near by, we had quick access to the start line. In fact, it was just a block away!

It was a brisk morning, but not overly brisk. Still, we sat in the car for as long as we could, then headed out. As luck would have it, at the construction site we passed, there was a porta potty...and it was HEATED...and there was no one around. SCORE! A quick pee and we were on our way!

There was some slick spots on the roads. The temperatures dipped below freezing overnight, yet the day before they were close to 40°. This meant a freeze on top of a melt. And this meant a slick start to the event, at least in the shady areas of the city.

The start was on time, and not very crowded. I think many opted to run the shorter events.

After the National Anthem (with a flag proudly displayed on a city fire truck suspended over the start line), and a great announcer, we were off.

We weaved through the city streets to start, again, with lots of slick spots. I couldn't blame the event organizers for that, though. There was little that could be done. Once we got out onto the main stretch along the river, there was little to no ice to be found. In fact, the course is one I've run so many times with Team Ortho races...up and down the Mississippi. There are long, gradual uphills and downhills. It is always rather challenging because it ends with the bit uphill at mile 12. This time, though, we ended in the city rather than the riverside.

There were well placed and well staffed water stops with this event, and what seemed like a plethora of city officers and police officials. It was very VERY well manned, and run, for that matter. There was a turn around point where we basically retraced our paths until we reached the city limits again. Clearly, this was run by folks who knew what they were doing. And since it was the Securian FInancial Group, clearly they had the money to spend on it. This race will stay on my list as one to run annually!

When we were done, we were ushered into the Securian Financial building where we were able to get an immediate printout of our finish time and our rank up to that point in time. Very cool! We go to pick up our awesome finishers coffee mug (they gave me an extra for my #Irun4 buddy Delaney) and our delicious treats, from which they had quite a few. This was more like the expo that they didn't have beforehand. But we didn't linger, as we had to get home to our kids that morning. But I would have liked to. They had more photo opportunities and quite a few vendors there. They allowed you to use the YMCA showers in the building, too...for free! Nice bonus if you needed them.

All in all, one of the best produced events I have been to in the Twin Cities. If you can deal with the Minnesota January cold, and the unpredictable weather, then I highly recommend this event!