My wife really likes the challenge of 1 mile races. So tonight she got us registered for the Midsummer 1 mile race at the Minnesota State Fairgrounds. My friend Michael and I decided to add a twist by biking down to the race before the start.

We arrived about 20 minutes before the men’s wave launched, but our intention had been to run in the friends and family wave. However, when I saw people lining up for the men’s wave I decided to give it a shot. I launched far too fast of course, with a sub-7 pace. Eventually I settled into a decent sub 8 pace and managed to mostly hold it for the rest of the race.

I crossed the finish line in 7:52, which isn’t a PR for me by a longshot, but I was happy to have beaten sub-8. I walked back over to the start line to see my wife and friend launch for the friends and family wave. At the last minute I decided to run this wave as well, giving me two 1 mile races in a single night. My second mile was slower of course, and I decided to stick with my wife throughout it. But having just burned myself out on my first race, the second one was actually really tough.

My only complaint about the race was that it involved a lot of turns. You had to loop a couple of blocks twice before heading to the finish line, so there were some moments where you were forced to slow down. The course also had a couple slight uphills on it, but overall, those weren’t the end of the world.

We hit the beer tent afterwards and relaxed with some friends before calling it a night. It was a really fun race, and I’d consider doing it again for fun. The one mile race distances are great places to test yourself on your sprinting capabilities, and how much you can manage your body over a very short distance.