Ragnar comes to Carlton County

Starting in St. Paul, last weekend's Ragnar race took runners along Interstate 35 through Stillwater, North Branch, Moose Lake, Carlton, and the numerous other towns separating the runners from the finish line in Duluth.

The director of the Minnesota Ragnar, Amber Sadlier, changed the course and name from the previous years' Great River Ragnar, which originally took runners from Winona to St. Paul. This is the first year that the statewide relay race ran through Carlton County and ended in Duluth.

The race included almost 450 teams, each with 6-12 individuals, who ran the 205-mile journey relay-style. Each of the runners would run three times throughout the race, sometimes during the day and other times at night. The course meandered through trails, neighborhoods, or on the shoulders of roads that run alongside the interstate. For some teams, the race lasted only about 24 hours, while others spent more than 36 hours on the course.

Carlton County hosted several legs of the race, which took the runners through the heart of the county, stopping off in Moose Lake, Mahtowa and Carlton. Once in the county, the teams mainly followed the beautiful WIllard Munger Trail and Jay Cooke State Park toward Duluth.

Carlton County was also well-represented in the race, with several teams, including the School of Jocks, the Lumberjack Heros, the Ripsaws, and the Bucksaws among others.

One of the teams, the Lumberjack Heros, has been running Ragnar for at least eight years. Tim Prosen, the assistant principal and the head coach for the track team at Cloquet High School, makes it a family affair with his wife, Sarah Prosen. His son, Cale Prosen, has also been running on the team for two years alongside his parents. "I love how our town is so well-represented," Tim said, continuing by saying that he often sees many Carlton County graduates and citizens at every Ragnar.

And the adults didn't get to have all of the fun - many Carlton high school representatives raced on the other teams as well.

Cloquet High School student and Ripsaws runner Josh South summed up the Ragnar pretty accurately when he said that the weekend held "lots of running, lots of pain, lots of laughs, and lots of memories."

While many of the racers wake up the next morning with sore muscles and tired ... well, every part of their bodies ... they can look back with pride at what they accomplished over the weekend and hold their heads high knowing they completed the 2019 Minnesota Ragnar Relay.

Writer and Pine Knot News intern Jordan Allen ran in this weekend's Ragnar as well; it was his third time competing in the massive relay race.