We Walk! Marathon

Dakota Rail Trail at Mayer, MN

The 2026 We Walk Event will be held Saturday Sept 26, 2026 on the Dakota Rail trail west of the Twin Cities, Minneapolis & St Paul, Minnesota. We feature short to long walking distances: 10 km, 13.1 miles, 26.2 miles or 50 km. The new course was selected by walkers to be walker-friendly. The paved asphalt trail follows an old railroad bed on the western outskirts of the Twin Cities. The races will start/finish in Mayer, MN. The Mayer Lutheran High School will be the starting/finishing facility The Dakota Rail Trail is close to the many amenities of the Minneapolis/St Paul metro area.

Walk On!

This is an event designed for walkers. We welcome all walkers, including, but not limited to, ordinary walkers, fitness walkers, power walkers, nordic walkers, race walkers, hikers, walk/runners, wheelers and riders. One unusual feature of this event is that we have a speed limit of 10:18 minutes per mile. Your result will show a minimum pace of 10:18/mile (with corresponding finish time). So, if you finish in 2:10:00 for the marathon, we will report it in the results as 4:30:00. We recommend that if you are fast, find another event.

Style of Walking

Walking means that at least one foot appears to be touching the ground at all times. Strolling, hiking, fitness walking, power walking and ordinary walking all follow this rule, as does Nordic walking and race walking. Nordic Walking means that you must walk and use one walking pole in each hand on every step. Race Walking means that you must follow USA Track & Field rule 232.2: “[…] a progression of steps so taken that the [race] walker makes contact with the ground so that no visible (to the human eye) loss of contact occurs. The advancing leg must be straightened (i.e., not bent at the knee) from the moment of first contact with the ground until the leg is in the vertical upright position.” Mixture of Walking and Running means that you walk part of the time and run or jog part of the time. For more information on this style, check out the web site of Jeff Galloway, the inventor of the Galloway Run-Walk-Run method. Wheeling means you use a self-propelled non-electric wheel chair. Riding means you ride in stroller or other wheeled conveyance propelled by others. A Rider must be a member of a team that includes at least one pusher.

Registration Dates

The Discounted Early Tier is closes on April 1. T-Shirts can be ordered as an 'Add-On' up to Aug 15th. Use the 'Store' tab to order T-shirts. Late registration from Sept 1 - 24 has higher fees. There is no race day registration.