For nearly 100 years, the Burlington train route meandered through the Black Hills. The train transported people, freight, mail, and livestock from town to town throughout the area. The original construction of the train route began in 1888, and within ten months the route was completed all the way to Edgemont. However, in the mid-1980s the train traffic came to a stop and the railroad was abandoned and ultimately removed.

Nonetheless, in 1991 a group of outdoor enthusiasts rallied together to convert the old railroad line into a hiking and biking trail through the scenic region. With the help of Governor George S. Mickelson the rails to trails project began in earnest in 1998. However, Governor Mickelson was killed in a plane crash in 1993 and therefore never saw the realization of the project. It is on this amazingly quiet and picturesque trail that marathon and half-marathon runners from all across the nation converge on the first Sunday in June to run what is called the Deadwood Mickelson Trail Marathon.

The Deadwood Mickelson

Trail Marathon begins in the hamlet of Rochford, the first 1.5 miles are on the road. At this point, the course becomes the Mickelson Trail. The next 12 miles are a mixture of gentle uphill and flat terrain. From there, the course is mostly downhill and finishes at the historic Engine House in Deadwood. The Half Marathon is also a point to point course, starting at the 13.1 mile mark of the full marathon, and follows the marathon course described above, also finishing at the historic Engine House of the Deadwood Trailhead.

This year several Wagner residents, together with several special guests, decided to run both the marathon and the half-marathon. Tom Cartney, former cross country coach for Wagner Community School, ran the full marathon, finishing first in his age division. His overall time was 3:40:03 which put is average mile pace at 8:24 per mile. This also landed him in the top 25 of marathon runners, finishing in 22nd place over all. Three of Mr. Cartney’s former cross country runners (all from the same family) also decided to run the half-marathon. Sadie Eitemiller finished at 2:06:34 (9:40 per mile), Rose Eitemiller finished at 2:15:43 (10:22 per mile), and Taylor Eitemiller finished at 3:26:40 (13:52 per mile). Running with the Eitemiller girls were Grant Pahl who finished with a time of 2:00:55 (9:14 per mile) and Gage Graeve who finished at 2:12:59 (10:10 per mile). In addition to these runners, Kristi Kafka also ran the half-marathon and finished with a time of 2:12:07 (10:06 per mile).

If you have ever participated in long distance endurance running, you know that the actual time and place in which you finish is not that important. Few distance runners are seeking to “win” the race. Distance runners like to challenge themselves to do something that most people would never attempt. They want to stay healthy and enjoy an activity that takes them to scenic and unusual places. Given the fact that less than 1% of Americans run a marathon or half-marathon in any given year, each of these runners have done something that 99% of Americans will not attempt. That may not make them elite, but it does at least make them unusual.