Running in South Dakota

Rapid City serves as the gateway to the Black Hills and has its own running scene beyond the Mickelson Trail. Skyline Wilderness Area, right above downtown, offers a short but steep loop around the city's namesake pine ridge, while the M Hill trail climbs to a lighted concrete marker with views over the whole valley, a popular sunrise run for locals.

On the other side of the state, Brookings is home to South Dakota State University and a genuinely active college running culture built around the Jackrabbit cross country and track programs. Students and locals share miles on the campus's paved trails and the nearby Six Mile Creek greenway, giving eastern South Dakota a running community that feels distinct from the Black Hills scene.

Along the Missouri River, Pierre and Chamberlain both maintain riverside trail systems, including Farm Island State Recreation Area near Pierre, that offer flat, shaded running through cottonwood bottomland, a welcome contrast to the exposed prairie roads that dominate much of the state.

The Black Hills rise to over 7,000 feet at Black Elk Peak, the highest point east of the Rockies, and runners coming from sea level or the eastern prairie towns notice the thinner air on climbs around Custer State Park and the upper sections of the Centennial Trail. It is not extreme altitude, but it is enough that visiting runners training for the Deadwood Mickelson Trail Marathon or the Lean Horse 100 often add a few easy acclimatization days before racing.

The granite and packed-gravel surfaces common on Black Hills trails reward a slightly more aggressive lug pattern than the pavement-friendly shoes suited to Sioux Falls road running, and many local ultrarunners keep two distinct pairs of trail shoes for exactly this reason.

Because winters close off much of the high country, South Dakota's serious trail racing season is compressed into a window roughly from May through September, which is part of why races like the Lean Horse 100 in August and the Deadwood Mickelson Trail Marathon in June draw such a loyal following, they are among the few chances each year to race at elevation in the state.