If you're looking for a way to celebrate the start of summer, running in Canal Park and on the Lakewalk at 12 a.m. is an option.
The Midnight Sun Adventure Company has its second Summer Solstice Festival starting today with the Midnight Sun Midnight Run
5-kilometer road race, which starts as Friday becomes Saturday. It will be one day after Thursday's official beginning of the season.
The unique race drew 125 runners last year in its debut with Mike Kramer of Cloquet winning in 14 minutes, 5 seconds for 3.1 miles. Race organizers are expecting as many as 250 entrants as the clock ticks toward midnight.
"Everyone seemed to enjoy last year's race, so we didn't change much, except that it's one day earlier and part of the course is new,'' said Midnight Sun employee Andre Watt. "We wanted to give the runners as much light as possible, so we eliminated a darker part of the Lakewalk.''
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The run starts at Midnight Sun, 100 Lake Place Drive, near the new Canal Park Lodge. The course travels down Canal Park Drive toward Grandma's Saloon & Grill, then loops onto the Lakewalk to Leif Ericson Park and back.
Runners are asked to enter during the day at Midnight Sun or when evening registration starts at 10 p.m. The entry fee is $25.
Later Saturday, there's a Circle Park 24K kayak marathon (fee $65) at 9 a.m. and a Park Point Beach Comber 10K kayak race ($55) at 9:15 a.m. On Sunday, there are Ice House kayak sprints at 10 a.m. and 11 a.m. ($25) with kayaks provided. For more information, contact (218) 727-1330.
Thursday's start to summer, the longest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere, was to offer 15 hours, 37 minutes and 8 seconds of daylight, according to timeanddate.com, and Friday daylight was diminished by two seconds.
