Second Longest Annual Run in Minnesota Set for Saturday

COLD SPRING -- The second-longest annual road race in Minnesota is set for this Saturday in Cold Spring. The Red River Run is celebrating it's 42nd anniversary this year.

The first race was held on August 5, 1978, and runners were able to choose between running three miles or 11 miles.

Race Director David Rarick says these types of runs weren't as common back in the 70s as they are now.

It's something the Chamber of Commerce got together and decided to do these two runs as more of a fitness type of thing.  They were running on a lot of gravel roads.  The superintendent of the school opened the locker rooms so the runners could shower afterward.

The registration fee for that first run was just $2, and if you finished you got a free t-shirt.

The Red River Run is only behind Grandma's Marathon in Duluth for longevity, that run began one year earlier in 1977.

This year Cold Spring has three runs, 1K fun run for kids, a 5K and a 10K. The first runners will take off at 8:00 a.m. Saturday.

If you're interested, you can sign-up the day of the race. It's a fundraiser for the ROCORI Booster Club.