There are races that problem runners, races that encourage runners, and races that remind runners why they fell in love with the game within the first place. The Badger Path Races, placed on by Ten Junk Miles Racing, handle to do all three. Held on Saturday, August 1 and Sunday, August 2 in Belleville, Wisconsin, this occasion was an unforgettable weekend of grit, pleasure, friendship, and pure operating group.
With race distances that included the 100 mile, 100K, 50 mile, 50K, marathon, and half marathon, Badger provided one thing for everybody—from seasoned ultrarunners chasing an enormous aim to runners stepping onto the path for a brand new journey. Each distance felt like a part of the identical bigger celebration: runners displaying up for themselves, for one another, and for the shared expertise of shifting ahead one mile at a time.
The Badger Path Races use the Badger State Path and proceed onto the Jane Addams Path between Belleville, Wisconsin, and Orangeville, Illinois. The course is sort of all rail path, with lower than one % asphalt, giving runners a clean, scenic, and welcoming path for large miles and significant moments.
What makes this race particularly inviting is the best way the course combines problem with attraction. Runners go via supportive path communities, expertise the fantastic thing about southwest Wisconsin, and share the path with athletes pursuing each form of aim. Whether or not somebody is chasing a buckle, a finisher’s medal, a private finest, or just the satisfaction of ending what they began, Badger provides runners a spot to dream huge and really feel supported whereas doing it.
One of many true highlights of the Badger Path Races was the unbelievable support station assist alongside the course. For runners tackling lengthy distances, support stations develop into greater than a spot to refill bottles or seize energy; they develop into emotional checkpoints, sources of encouragement, and moments of connection when the miles begin to really feel huge. Badger’s support stations delivered precisely that. They had been welcoming, organized, energetic, and stuffed with the form of care that may fully change a runner’s day.
The volunteers and supporters on the right track made runners really feel seen and supported at each stage of the race. Whether or not somebody wanted meals, fluids, a fast chortle, a sensible reset, or just a reminder that they had been doing one thing wonderful, the help stations offered it. That degree of assist is a part of what makes Badger so particular: runners had been by no means simply shifting via miles alone; they had been being carried ahead by a group that genuinely needed each particular person to succeed.
From begin to end, the Badger Path Races felt thoughtfully organized and genuinely runner-focused. Each runner obtained a beneficiant assortment of race swag, together with a bag, t-shirt, seashore towel, bracelet, stickers, and extra. Each finisher additionally obtained a medal, and 100 milers had been awarded a singular belt buckle that honored the magnitude of their accomplishment. Runners who’ve accomplished a number of Badger occasions obtained a belt concho thoughtfully designed by the Race Director, including one other significant layer to the occasion’s custom and sense of belonging.
These particulars matter as a result of they ship a transparent message: Ten Junk Miles Racing values the runners who present up, celebrates their effort, and desires them to go away with one thing that reminds them of the expertise lengthy after race weekend is over.
The end line was simply as memorable. Free pizza, beer, and pop created the form of relaxed, blissful, welcoming environment that each runner hopes to seek out after a hard-earned end. It was not only a place to gather an award and head house; it was a spot to take a seat down, cheer for others, swap tales, have fun survival and success, and do not forget that operating is even higher when it’s shared.
Race Director Scott Kummer’s dedication to runners and to the game of operating is felt all through the Badger Path Races. Scott based the Ten Junk Miles Podcast to construct precisely this type of group—a spot the place on a regular basis runners might really feel like they’d operating companions, trustworthy conversations, shared tales, and a house within the sport. His management will not be merely about placing on an occasion; it’s about persevering with that mission in particular person by creating an area the place runners really feel welcomed, revered, celebrated, and cared for. From the considerate race particulars to the beneficiant finish-line environment, Badger displays a race director who understands that runners keep in mind how an occasion made them really feel simply as a lot as they keep in mind the miles themselves.
In a sport that may generally really feel intimidating or unique, Scott helps realign operating with what makes it so highly effective within the first place: inclusion, encouragement, humility, humor, and love. Badger welcomes the entrance of the pack, the again of the pack, first-time path runners, veteran ultrarunners, podcast listeners, crew members, volunteers, households, and buddies. Everybody has a spot, everybody has a narrative, and everyone seems to be handled as a part of the bigger operating household.
The spirit of Badger is intently tied to the Ten Junk Miles Podcast, a present constructed round lighthearted conversations by path, street, and extremely runners about their lives as runners and the problems that matter to them. That very same vitality confirmed up all through race weekend. The podcast has by no means felt like solely a present; it appears like an invite right into a group the place runners can chortle, study, pay attention, and really feel seen.
That group connection is what makes Badger particular. Ten Junk Miles brings runners collectively earlier than race day, through the miles, and lengthy after the end line. The podcast helps folks really feel linked even earlier than they arrive, and the race turns that connection into real-life encouragement, support station conversations, finish-line hugs, and friendships that proceed effectively past Belleville. Scott’s imaginative and prescient for the podcast carries instantly into the races: runners will not be handled as prospects shifting via an occasion, however as members of a joyful, messy, decided, deeply supportive operating household.
Badger Path Races are the form of occasion that make runners need to come again—and make newcomers surprise why they haven’t signed up sooner. The distances are formidable however welcoming. The course is gorgeous however approachable. The group is considerate, the awards and swag are significant, the end line is festive, and the group is strictly what operating ought to be: supportive, humorous, form, resilient, inclusive, and stuffed with coronary heart.
The Ten Junk Miles Racing calendar additionally provides runners one more reason to remain linked. The subsequent race is Final Dot Standing, held the weekend of September 18–20 in Belleville, Wisconsin. The occasion presents a final particular person standing format, together with 24-hour, 48-hour, and 8-hour choices, giving runners one other likelihood to hitch the Ten Junk Miles group, check themselves, assist each other, and expertise the identical inclusive, energetic race environment that makes Badger so memorable.
In case you are on the lookout for a race that provides huge objectives, small-town attraction, glorious runner assist, and a group that really celebrates each mile, put the Badger Path Races in your calendar for subsequent 12 months. Whether or not you run the half marathon, marathon, 50K, 50 mile, 100K, or 100 mile, you’ll depart with greater than a end. You’ll depart with reminiscences, new buddies, and a strong reminder that the very best races are about a lot greater than the space.
Registration is open for each the Badger Path Races and Final Dot Standing at Tenjunkmilesracing.com, making now the right time to enroll, set a aim, and develop into a part of the Ten Junk Miles Racing group.
