Retired from Nordic skiing, legend Jessie Diggins tackles the Superior 100 mile race
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“And we’re off!”
That’s what Jessie Diggins, the most acclaimed cross country skier in U.S. history posted on Instagram Friday morning as she and her support crew donned homemade tie dyed t-shirts and began running a grueling 100 mile race on the Superior Hiking Trail.
“Superior100 is a go — with a solid crew and of course glitter and homemade tie dye shirts,” Diggins posted. “See you in 100 miles!”
Diggins took off in the 100 mile foot race from Gooseberry State Park at 8:00 a.m. Friday.
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The rugged course follows the Superior Hiking Trail on the rocky ridgeline along Lake Superior.
This is Diggins’ third trail race since she retired from professional skiing earlier this year, and it's her first ever 100-miler. But race director John Storkamp expects her to do well.
“There’s nobody better at kind of grinding something out, and the 100 mile distance is really about grinding, you know,” Storkamp said. “So when it comes to that point, I think she’ll be well equipped.”
Storkamp told MPR News that he’s not surprised she chose this race for her first 100 miler.
“It feels right because you know Jesse is from Minnesota and she’s a Minnesota athlete who has always really honored her Minnesota roots, like she’s always shown so much love back to the state of Minnesota," Storkamp said.
Diggins, 35, grew up in Afton and graduated from Stillwater High School.
The Superior 100 is considered one of the more difficult ultramarathon trail races in the country because of the hilly and rocky terrain. Members of Diggins race crew take turns running alongside her to help pace and guide her.
Racers run the trail through the night with headlamps. Top athletes who are able to complete the challenging run are expected to finish the race sometime Saturday morning in Lutsen, some 24 to 28 hours after they started.
Diggins retired from cross country skiing in March after competing in her third winter Olympics. She won a gold medal in 2018, silver and bronze medals in 2022, and another bronze in this year’s games, just days after falling in a previous race and bruising her ribs.
She was honored in a retirement party in St. Paul’s Allianz Stadium in April.
MPR News will talk with Diggins after she finishes the races and will have more photos to share next week.
