skip navigation
Home Registration Race Info Coaching Volunteer Results Podium Contact Apparel

2012 Lake Minnetonka Half Marathon Race Changes

32nd Annual Wells Fargo Lake Minnetonka Half Marathon

As a follow up to the 2011 Wells Fargo Lake Minnetonka Half Marathon race and survey, we know that there is some work to be done.  In an effort to remedy the challenges faced during the 2011 race, Podium Sports Marketing is making the following key changes to the event for 2012.

  1. New Finish Line on the road in Excelsior
    • In 2011 we worked with the City of Excelsior to alleviate some traffic congestion on Lake Street along the finish line.  By doing so, we pushed our finish line into the park and onto the grass.  After receiving over 2 inches of rain the day before, the finish line was a muddy mess.  This will never happen again.
  2. Additional busses to Wayzata parking areas
    • In 2011, due to the unseasonably cold weather, most of our runners were too cold to stick around and enjoy the day.  With everyone making their way to the busses at the same time, we ended up with extremely long waits in the cold weather.  To keep this from happening in the future, Podium has increased the number of busses from 6 in 2011 to 12 busses in 2012.
  3. Start Line in Wayzata
    • With the finish line changing in 2011 to be in the park, we needed to move the start line onto Lake Street.  However, the police in Wayzata would not allow us to shut down Lake Street until immediately before the start of the race, so we staged all runners on Superior.  The actual start line was about .2 miles down the road, which threw everyone off.  In 2012, we will stage and start everyone at the exact start line to alleviate any confusion.
  4. Newly designed finish area for athletes
    • There was a lot of congestion as you finished the 2011 race due to the location of the finish line and the wetness of the entire park.  To alleviate that, we have worked with the city of Excelsior to allow us to finish our race on Lake Street and then extend our "Athlete's Village" into the park so there will be plenty of space to cool down, eat and relax after the race without having to fight the crowds of spectators.