Deadwood Mickelson Trail full and half marathon

This has been one of my favorite destination races so far.  We had been watching the HBO series and were looking forward to being able to see where some of the famous historical figures were buried and where some of the shoot-outs had occurred. 

While the expo was small, it had everything you needed.  There were plenty of gear from both the current race and discounted previous events.  They had all of the basics covered with vendors as well as having a couple of local massage people there.

Right across the street from the host hotel and packet pick-up was the Tatanka museum.  This is a must see when visiting Deadwood.  The Tatanka, story of the bison was built because of the generisoty of Kevin Coster.  While was not a fan of Dancing with Wolves, I found a new respect for the movie after visiting Tatanka.  Please visit  http://www.storyofthebison.com/ for more information.

Please visit  http://www.cityofdeadwood.com for a complete list of all the places to see when visiting Deadwood, SD.  A must see for us was the Mt. Moriah Cemetery.  Here we were able to see where Wild Bill Hickok, Seth Bullock, Calamity Jane, and all of the other famous (and not so famous) Deadwood residents rest for eternity. 

I would highly recommend spending some time on the Mickelson trail when you are in the area, either for a race or for fun.  Please visit http://www.deadwoodmickelsontrailmarathon.com/ for event information.  It is held the first weekend in June.  Or for general trail information please visit http://www.mickelsontrailaffiliates.com/ for more information about the trail itself.

This is about half way for the half marathon.  Please be aware of the 1000+ feet in elevation gain for the full marathon trail.  While gators are not required, if you tend to get things in your shoes while running on trails, this one does have loose gravel that may cause problems.