Saint John's Cross Country Alumni & Current Team Group Run and Picnic
Sunday, August 23rd, 2026 at 10:00AM
Elm Creek Park Reserve, Maple Grove, MN (Chipmunk Picnic Area)
Lunch and Watermelon Eating Contest spectating to follow the run
SJU Cross Country Alumni --
In an effort to gather everybody together and connect our current cross country team with our alumni, we are going to hold an alumni group run and post-run picnic at the beginning of this upcoming season at 10:00am on Sunday, August 23rd at Elm Creek Park in Maple Grove, Minnesota. A reunion of sorts. The meeting and picnic location will be the Chipmunk Picnic Area within the park. We will be bringing our current team down to Elm Creek from SJU for the run, and I will also provide lunch for everybody after the run as well. For those of you who are local, we would love to see you there — whether you go for a run or just hang back at the picnic area while the group runs and socialize with the everyone afterwards.
I figure after some quick introductions and an interview of either an alum or a current team member, the group can all go for a run together through the park and then have lunch in the picnic area after the run. Also, after the run, alumni can sit back and spectate one of our team's favorite St. Michael's Games events the last few years — the Watermelon Eating Contest. Each St. Michael's Games team will select their three best "eaters" to compete against the other teams' eaters, and the first team to eat their entire watermelon wins. After record-setting times the last two years because Tim and I could only find watermelons that were on the smaller side, I'll be searching all of Stearns County for the biggest watermelons I can find in order to re-create the heated competition we saw in our 2023 contest where several teams struggled and only three of the four teams finished...
Hopefully this cross country group run/picnic can be a new tradition that we do at least every other year, and while this is somewhat short notice for this year, we are hopeful for a good turnout and would love to see as many of you there as possible. Kids and other family members are welcome to join, too!
Reach out if you have any questions, hope to see you in a few weeks and enjoy the rest of your summer. And spread the word to your SJU teammates! Also, please let me know if you plan to be there (as well as any dietary restrictions) so I can get a rough headcount for how much food to buy.
Some pictures of the watermelon eating contest from the last few years are included below…
Maxwell
