Midwest Trail Running
August in the Midwest
By Ornery Author Ryan Chukuske
Welcome to August in the Midwest. These can be some trying times. Often, when people think about us Midwesterner nice people, they think, “How can you survive those terrible winters?” Well, let me tell you something. Winter is fantastic. The real question is how do we survive the summers. They can be and are typically brutal. Just as an example, I recently took a trip out to San Francisco, CA with my wife and kid for a nice week-long getaway. It was an amazing 65–70-degree, low humidity trip. On August 3rd, we were flying back to a heat advisory warning that said it was 110 degrees in Minnesota.
Seriously. And here we are. We love it. Let me repeat that. WE LOVE IT. Why else would we be here? Other than tsunamis and hurricanes we pretty much experience all of the other weather events that Mother Nature throws at us. Yes, even earthquakes. Although we have one of the lowest occurrence levels of earthquakes in the United States, Minnesota has had a total of 20 small to moderate earthquakes documented since 1860. True story.
This is what make the Midwest so great and so unpredictable. We have it all. Now imagine being a Race Director in our wonderland of climate. You can never predict what the days will bring us. You can say, “Hey, let’s have a race in the spring because it will be decent temperatures and no pesky bugs.” And the BAM!!! Here comes a blizzard in May or flooding in April. Oh, okay. Let’s do a winter race in January or February. Sounds great and we know it’s going to be cold. All of a sudden, we have a freak warm streak and it’s 60 degrees in February or as what we might expect but not be prepared for, it’s negative 45 degrees with windchill in January and super dangerous to be outside in those conditions.
But I digress. Back to August in the Midwest. Let’s just reason with one another. It’s typically hot. Humid. Raining while it’s hot and humid. And the mosquitos and biting flies own the trails that we love to explore. You know what? That’s what makes us tough. That’s what makes us the trail runners that we are. And we endure. That’s what we do. And we’re better for it. Yes, it’s impressive when the runners out West and out East take on their mountains and their altitudes and peaks and such.
But let me remind you of something. We are the Midwest. Hang on. I need to repeat that for just a moment. WE ARE THE MIDWEST. We deserve to be recognized as being just as badass as the rest of the best. Because we are among the best. And to all of you that continue to explore what the Midwest has to offer for trail running, thank you. It’s because of you that we continue to make our mark on the history of trail awesomeness.
So, as we continue to navigate our way through the summer months and into August, remember that you are great. We really do have to put up with more than the typical difficulties. We have to endure the pesky insects and tough overgrowth of the trails. We put up with the heat and humidity that would easily sideline any “dry heat” weathered athlete. We are the Midwest Runners and we are tough. We are resilient. And we own these trails. Go after it every day and remember that you are great.
Stay ornery and journey on my friends.