The Grandma's course

Two Harbors is behind you and Scenic Drive opens out flat and cool. A 7:45 gun and lake air make this mile feel like nothing, which is exactly the trap.

Still Scenic Drive, and now the road starts giving something back. Let the downhill carry you rather than pressing into it, because you will be on this road a long time.

The longest sustained drop of the opening stretch, all of it on Scenic Drive with Lake Superior off your left shoulder. Bank rhythm here, not time.

Dead level on Scenic Drive. Good place for your first honest look at the watch and a decision about whether the pace you are running is the pace you planned.

Scenic Drive barely tilts down and there is nothing here to manage. So manage your fluids instead.

The one blip of the first 10k: a 36 foot riser inside the first half of the mile, then the road hands all of it back. Shorten your stride on the way up and ignore the split.

Scenic Drive becomes North Shore Drive and the grade goes flat. You are settled in now, and the view is going to stay the same for a while.

North Shore Drive tilts up for the first real time. It is gentle, but it is the first mile that asks for something, so hold the effort steady and let the pace give back a few seconds.

Another rise, 39 feet of it stacked through the middle before the road eases. Two climbing miles back to back this early is a fine reminder that this race gets decided after 20.

The big giveback, and the largest single drop on the course. Quads that get hammered on this one send the bill at Lemon Drop.

Straight back up, roughly half of what the last mile gave you. Same road, same water, just the other sign on the grade.

North Shore Drive levels out. Pavement, lake and one quiet mile before halfway, which is a better use of your attention than anything else right now.

A slight drift downhill with the half mat just ahead. Whatever you cross in should be a number you would be happy doubling and adding a couple of minutes to.

Halfway, and North Shore Drive hands off to Congdon Boulevard. The road stays flat through here and the honest part of the day begins.

Congdon Boulevard, open and level. Duluth is close enough to think about and far enough that thinking about it too hard right now is a mistake.

Level again on Congdon, within a few feet either way. Take the aid station cleanly and keep the effort exactly where it has been.

The boulevard rolls gently upward. Small enough that your legs can ignore it, big enough that your watch will not.

Congdon climbs more definitely now, 23 feet across the mile. Check that your form has not started to fold at the hips, because it is easy to lose posture on a grade this mild.

Down off the high ground and across an arch bridge, the last real descent before the city. Go easy on the quads, they have one job left.

Congdon becomes London Road and the course starts climbing toward town. Twenty down, and the profile is about to get honest with you.

London Road keeps rising, another 23 feet, and the noise starts building as the course reaches the city. Lemon Drop waits at the end of the next mile.

Glensheen Mansion goes by on London Road and the road falls away before the ground tilts up at 21.8 into Lemon Drop Hill. Take the free descent, then get small and patient the second it turns.

Lemon Drop tops out early in this mile, 55 feet in all, and London Road flattens behind it. The hill has a bigger reputation than gradient, and at 22 miles a reputation is plenty.

London Road hands off to East Superior Street by way of South 12th Avenue East. Flat ground, city around you, and the first mile where counting what is left actually helps.

Superior Street runs downhill through downtown, past Greysolon Plaza in the old Hotel Duluth. If there is anything left in the legs, this is the mile to spend it.

Down Harbor Drive past the DECC and AMSOIL Arena, over the lift bridge and onto Canal Park Drive. Downhill, loud, and done before you have time to do the math.