RRC Races
August 24, 2024
All-Comers’ Track Meets
Polar Bear Prediction 5k Run
The goal is to be one of the first 10 people to cross the finish line when the clock strikes zero – no watches or timing devices allowed. Pacing and trusting your “internal clock” give this race a really fun twist and give everyone of all talent levels the chance to be a winner.
How It Works
At 9 AM, the clock and finish line stop watch start counting down from 60 minutes. Runners decide when to begin their race by crossing the start line and are expected to continue running or walking the 5K course without stopping.
Everyone’s goal is to leave, complete the course, and be one of the first 10 people to cross the finish line when the clock is at zero. Be one of them and you are a winner!
The clock is not visible at the finish line, and participants are not allowed to wear or use a watch.
Race Details
Saturday, January 6, 2024
Bib Pick up: 8:30-9:30AM
Awards: ~10:10AM (est.)
Countdown Starts: 9:00 AM
Countdown Ends: 10:00 AM
Where: Forager Brewery
Course: The 5k course is an out-&-back on a side street and bike trail. Course conditions could be snowy and may be slippery; please use caution and adjust for conditions. The finish line gate is a single file.
View the route HERE
Additional Race Info
Cost: $25
There is a $5 discount for current RRC members. Non-members who join the RRC on or before race day are eligible for the discount.
Registration: Available online or on race day from 8:30-9:00 AM at Forager Brewery (1005 6th St NW).
SWAG: Participants receive a fleece hat. Awards Ceremony and `after` celebration following the race.
Awards: Ten highly coveted, hand-carved bears crafted by Roger Heil are awarded.
Spring Classic 5K & 15K Race
Saturday, May 4, 2024
LOCATION: Slatterly Park
Race Schedule:
- 8:30 am – Melby Kids 1 Mile View Kids Route
- 9:00 am – 15k View 15K Route 15K is an RRC Grand Prix Event
- 9:05 am – 5k View 5K Route
Course:
The 5K & 15K courses will include an out and back on scenic paved bike trails along the Zumbro River in and around downtown Rochester.
Registration:
Register online HERE until noon on Thursday, May 2nd
Kids 1 Mile – Free
5K – $30
15K – $35
YMCA Camp Olson RochesterFest Mile
The crowds will cheer! This fast and fun 1 mile Grand Prix race is held on the RochesterFest parade route- just 15 minutes before the start of the parade! The streets are lined with spectators, and there is food & drink vendors and entertainment set up around the Soldiers Field Memorial Park track. The race starts and ends at Soldiers Field Memorial Park.
All proceeds benefit YMCA Camp Olson
Race Details
Saturday, June 29, 2024
Race Start: 1:45 PM
Bib Pick up: 1:00-1:30 pm at the start line area
Where: 6th St SW, in front of Centerstone Plaza
Course: USATF Certified course # MN17009RR
Additional Race Info
Cost: $15 for RRC members and $20 for Non-RCC Members
RRC Grand Prix Event
Rochester Women’s 4-Mile Race
This is one of only a few races in the upper Midwest for women only. Women walkers and runners of all ages are welcome!!! Race entry includes a race gift and post-race refreshments. 2024 is the 43rd Anniversary of this race!
Saturday July 27, 2024
Register Online: price increases on July 12th
Race Start: 8:00 AM
Bib Pick up: 7:00 AM
Where: Silver Lake East Shelter, 705 East Silver Lake Dr, Rochester MN 55906
Course: The course is an out and back on the trail.
Additional Info
Cost: $5 discount for current RRC members – Join RRC now!
RRC Grand Prix Event
Registration: online or same-day walk-up
Awards: Awards will be given to the top 3 finishers in 12 age group categories.
Reggie Oeltjen Douglas Trail 11-Mile Race
This 11-mile race takes place on the Douglas Trail, an asphalt rail-trail system that extends from Northwest Rochester to Pine Island. Participants meet in Douglas to race through a canopy of trees that shade the trail most of the way. Runners are treated to a race gift, post-race refreshments, and delicious watermelon.
The first Douglas Trail Race took place in 1976. The race was renamed in 2017 to honor Reggie Oeltjen, a longtime member and volunteer of the Rochester Running Club. Reggie’s dream was to run border to border across Minnesota, from South Dakota to Wisconsin, at age 65. He passed away peacefully in his sleep midway through his journey.
Race Details
Saturday, August 3, 2023 47th Anniversary!
Race Start: 8:00 AM
Bib Pick up: 7:00 AM
Where: Douglas State Trail – Douglas Trailhead 75th St NW, Co Hwy 14, Oronoco, MN 55960
Course: 11-mile out-and-back race on the Douglas Trail. Douglas Trail is a paved, fairly flat and straight trail, with just a few intersections with county roads. Race will start just north of the parking lot. Course Map
Additional Race Info
Cost: $30 RRC members $35 Non-RCC Members – join RRC now!; RRC Grand Prix Event
Registration: Will open in 2023
Awards: Awards will be given to the first overall male and female finishers and the first male and female Masters (40+) finishers. The awards are a headband and a watermelon.
Race Results:
Lance Pfrimmer Memorial Run
Tentative Schedule of Events:
Friday, August 9, 2024 – TerraLoco 4-7pm
- Packet Pickup & walk up registration
- Warm-up & Get Together
Saturday, August 10, 2024 – Rochester Eagle’s Club
- 8:30 AM – 9:45 AM Packet Pick up & Same Day Registration
- 8:30 AM Silent Auction begins
- 10:00 AM 8K Race Starts, followed by the 1M Walk
- Musician, Bob Schlief, performs 10:30am – noon
- Silent Auction ends at noon
View the 8K Race Route: HERE
Race & Event Information
Please join the Pfrimmer Family and Rochester and Stout’s Running Communities in the first annual Lance Pfrimmer Memorial Run and Walk, and silent auction. All proceeds benefit the Rochester Area Foundation `Lance Pfrimmer Memorial Scholarship` and honor Lance’s legacy of sportsmanship, positivity and athleticism.
Participants may enjoy post run refreshments, as well as the option to purchase food and beverages from the Eagle’s Club.
Tech t-shirts are guaranteed to everyone registered before July 20th (including virtual participants).
Please direct any questions or offers of donations/sponsorships to: LiveLikeLance8K@gmail.com
Unable to participate, but want to donate to the Scholarship Fund? Click HERE
Mayo Open Cross Country 5K Meet
The Mayo Open 5K Cross Country Race is a Grand Prix event, held after the Mayo High School Invitational meet. The first meet was held November 6, 1971. In 1985 Roger Spee brought back the revival of a cross country race
at the Eastwood Golf Course by organizing a race on September 13 following the Mayo Invitational Cross Country Meet.
Thursday, September 12, 2024
Race Start: 6:00 PM (approximate)
Bib Pick up: 5:00 – 5:45 PM
Where: Eastwood Park Rochester MN 55904
Course: The course is a 5K two loop around Eastwood Golf Course. The race has grass and hills (can’t have a good cross-country race without hills!).
Cost: FREE to all
RRC Grand Prix Event
Registration: Register for 2024 event online HERE (coming soon), or on race day from 5:00 PM to 5:45 PM at Eastwood Park Rochester MN 55904
Race Results: Download 2023 Results
Tour de Essex
Experience the rolling hills of the Essex Park Trails in this low key, low frills race.
Pre-register $10 for RRC & RASC Members, $15 non- members. Race Day Registration will be $15 RRC & RASC Members, $20 for non-members. (Join RRC Now! )
This 7K race is a RRC Grand Prix Race Event
All race proceeds will help support year-round trail maintenance of the Essex Park and Quarry Hill Park trail systems.
Race Details
Saturday, October 19, 2024
Race Start: 9:00 AM
Race Day Registration and Bib Pick up: 8:00 AM Race Day at the Essex Park red barn
Where: Essex Park, 5455 W River Rd, Rochester MN
Course: The 7k trail run will start on Essex Park entrance road and then had onto the trails. Running surfaces on the race course are mainly grass and dirt with short sections of gravel and asphalt trails.
The Great Gobble Race
The Great Gobble is a 5K race taking place on the morning of Thanksgiving Day and benefiting The Salvation Army! Programming runs deep, and stretches far and wide at The Salvation Army. Whether it’s through the Pathway of Hope, helping families carve a pathway out of poverty, the Food Shelf, helping to cure hunger in our community, the Good Samaritan Health Clinic, providing those in our community without health or dental insurance access to quality care, or helping to combat addiction. Please help the Rochester Running Club support The Salvation Army this year, and every year!
Thursday, November 28, 2024
Race Start: 8:00 AM
Packet Pick up: 4:00 – 7:00 PM on Wednesday or day of Thanksgiving 6:30 – 7:30 AM
Where: Autumn Ridge Church Rochester, MN
Course: The course is a 5K run or 2 Mile walk in the Mayowood area.
Cost: $30 for 5K, $25 for 2M
Registration: Register for 2023 event online HERE (coming soon), in-person available on Wednesday night at packet pick up, no race day registration
Race Results: Download 2023 Results
RRC Grand Prix
The Rochester Running Club Grand Prix is an individual running series that consists of 9-12 races in which RRC members compete for points toward year-end awards. Competition is conducted by age groups for both males and females. Prizes are awarded to the top three runners in each age group at the annual RRC Meeting/Banquet. Many of the Grand Prix races offer additional discounts to RRC Member participants.
2024 Grand Prix Races
- May 4, 2024 – Rochester Spring Classic 15K Race
- May 19, 2024 – Med City Marathon
- June 2, 2024 – Chester Woods 10 Mile Trail Race
- June 29, 2024 – RochesterFest 1 Mile
- July 4, 2024 – Stewartville Summerfest 5 Mile Race
- July 20, 2024 – Byron Good Neighbor Days 5K Race
- July 27, 2024 – Rochester Women’s 4 Mile Race
- August 3, 2024 – Reggie Oeltjen Douglas Trail 11-Mile Race
- August 10, 2024 – Lance Pfrimmer Memorial 8K
- August 24, 2024 – Scheels Healthy Human Half Marathon
- September 12, 2024 – Mayo Open Cross Country 5K Meet
- October 19, 2024 – Tour de Essex Trail Run
Click to view Grand Prix Rules
- Participants must be Rochester Running Club members. If a participant becomes a member of the Rochester Running Club during the period in which the Grand Prix races are being held, earlier races in which they participated as a non-Rochester Running Club member will be used when calculating the Grand Prix point totals.
- Points will be earned in the following age groups for female, male, and non-binary runners: 19 and under, 20-29, 30-39, 40-49, 50-59, 60-69, & 70 and over
- Runners will earn points based on their placing in their age group for a particular race: 1st place – 10 points, 2nd place – 9 points, 3rd place – 8 points, etc. up to 10th place – 1 point. To determine the points a runner earns in a race, all runners participating in the race will be included in the age group placings, even if they are not Rochester Running Club members. For example, if a Grand Prix participant
finishes 4th in their age group and the first 3 runners are not RRC members, the RTC member will receive 7 points. - A runner must participate in at least 3 races to be eligible to receive an award. A race in which a runner participates but does not earn any points still counts as one of the 3 races.
- The points from the 5 races in which the runner earned the most points will be used to determine the runner’s overall point total.
- All awards are based on the age that you are on the day of the last grand prix race of the season.
- If a runner changes age category during the year, the points they earned when they were running in the younger age category will move with them to the older age category.
- The races that are included in the Grand Prix will be determined at the start of each year by the Rochester Running Club board. There will typically be about 8-10 races covering a range of distances that will be designated as Grand Prix Events
- The three persons in each age group earning the most points and meeting the eligibility criteria will receive Grand Prix Awards. The eligibility criteria are: (1) Member of the Rochester Running Club, (2) Participated in at least three Grand Prix events, and (3) Earned points in at least one Grand Prix event
Grand Prix Standings
2024 Standings: Coming soon
2023 Standings: Download now
2022 Standings: Download now
2021 Standings: Download now
2020 Standings: Due to Covid-19 the Grand Prix was canceled
2019 Standings: Download now
Race Calendar
Would you like your SE Minnesota running event published on RRC’s website? Use the links below
Race Results
(2020 – Current Year)
An incomplete archive of older results is available on the `About` page.
Jump back to top.