Star Tribune
December heat cancels attempted world-record ice maze in Eagan
The heat is on and the ice maze is off in Eagan where warm weather forced the cancellation of the 2024 Minnesota Ice Festival.
Minnesota Ice CEO Robbie Harrell said continued higher-than-average temperatures prompted him to stop construction of what was to be an outdoor extravaganza and attempted Guinness World Record-setting ice maze.
“We’re going all in; This is the Minnesota Ice Festival,” an excited Harrell said in November.
Alas, safety concerns caused Harrell to pull the plug, he said in a statement late Wednesday.
“As the weather warms, it’s important for anyone attending events featuring large ice or snow structures to exercise extreme caution,” he said. “Warmer temperatures can affect the stability of these structures, potentially making them hazardous.”
The ice had already been delivered to Viking Lakes in Eagan, the headquarters of the Minnesota Vikings. The plan was to build an 18,000-square-foot maze and festival in the open-air TCO Stadium. With a planned opening date of Jan. 5, the aim was to break the 2010 record set by Buffalo, N.Y., of just under 13,000 square feet.
“We were really looking forward to celebrating the beautiful Minnesota winter with everyone, but the weather hasn’t cooperated, and we won’t be able to deliver the experience we had hoped for,” Harrell said.
Although the big maze is off for now, Harrell said the ice has been delivered and is being kept on, well, ice, so it won’t melt. He’s hopeful the weather will cool down enough for a celebration later this winter.
Minnesota Ice is the St. Paul-based company that built a maze last January on the Vikings’ Eagan campus, just south of Interstate 494 and east of Dodd Road. Harrell planned to expand the event into a full-fledged festival in early 2024, stretching into mid-February if the weather permitted.
In addition to the maze inside the stadium, he also planned an ice rink, warming house, skate rentals, multiple fire pits, an ice slide and an ice cannon shooting fireballs into the air. He planned for two ice bars and 10 food trucks under the lights of the stadium and its giant screen.
Harrell also scheduled a dramatic ice-sculpting contest with artists using 20-30 blocks of ice instead of the usual 5-10 blocks seen at other events. Each block weighs 300 pounds.
He was undaunted by the weather phenomenon El Niño’s destruction of the plans. “We’re already crafting icy wonders for 2025, so stay tuned for a season full of chill and thrill. Your support means the world to us, and we can’t wait to share what’s next.”
Kyle Chank, general manager of the entire Viking Lakes development, said the cancellation is a “bummer all around,” but Winter Skolstice events, including the market and light installations will continue through the end of the year. He said they’re working on additional events in the absence of the maze.
He also noted the campus walkways are open to the public and their leashed dogs who want to soak up the twinkling atmosphere.
Those who have already purchased tickets and gift cards for the Minnesota Ice Festival will receive automatic refunds within 7-10 days.
Two people from Minnetonka were killed late Friday afternoon when their GMC Suburban ran a stop sign and was struck by a GMC Yukon headed north on Hwy. 169 west of Palisade, Minn.
According to the State Patrol, Marlo Dean Baldwin, 92, and Elizabeth Jane Baldwin, 61, were dead at the scene. The driver of the Suburban, a 61-year-old Minnetonka man, was taken to a hospital with life-threatening injuries.
The Suburban, pulling a trailer, was headed east on Grove Street/County Rd. 3 at about 5:15 p.m. when it failed to stop at Hwy. 169 and was struck by the northbound Yukon. The Yukon then struck two westbound vehicles stopped at the intersection.
Four people from Zimmerman, Minn., in the Yukon, including the driver, were taken to HCMC with life-threatening injuries, while two passengers were treated for non-life-threatening injuries. Three girls in the Yukon ranged in age from 11 to 15.
The drivers of the two vehicles struck by the Yukon were not injured, the State Patrol said. Road conditions were dry at the time of the accident, and alcohol was not believed to have been a factor. All involved in the accident were wearing a seat belt except for Elizabeth Baldwin.
Hill City police and the Aitkin County Sheriff’s Office assisted at the scene.
Amid the cacophony and chaos of the pregame preparation before a recent Minnetonka High School football game, an exceptional group of six girls is gathered together among the school’s deep and talented cheerleading and dance teams.
The cheerleaders, a national championship-winning program of 40 girls, dot the track around the football field. As the clock ticks down to kickoff and their night of choreographed routines begins, the six girls, proudly wearing Minnetonka blue T-shirts emblazoned with “Skippers Nation” and shaking shiny pom-poms, swirl around the track, bristling with excited energy.
Their circumstances are no different from any of the other cheerleaders with one notable exception: The girls on this team have special needs.
They’re members of the Minnetonka Sparklers, a squad of cheerleaders made up solely of girls with special needs.
A football game at Minnetonka High School is an elaborate production. The Skippers’ recent homecoming victory over Shakopee brought an announced crowd of 8,145. And that is just paying attendees; it doesn’t include school staffers, coaches, dance team, marching band, concession workers, media members and others going about their business attached to the game.
The Sparklers program, now in its 12th season, was the brainchild of Marcy Adams, a former Minnetonka cheerleader who initiated the program in her senior year of high school. Adams has been coach of the team since its inception, staying on through her tenure as a cheerleader at the University of Minnesota.
She started the program after experiencing the Unified Sports program at Minnetonka. The unified sports movement at high schools brings together student-athletes with cognitive or physical disabilities and athletes with no disabilities to foster relationships, understanding and compassion through athletics. Many Minnesota schools offer unified sports.
“I grew up in a household that valued students with special needs and valued inclusion,” Adams said. “I saw a need to give to those students. At Minnetonka, we have a strong Unified program, and this was a great opportunity to build relationships and offer mentorship opportunities.”
Elite runners are in a league of their own.
To get a sense of how far ahead elite runners are compared to the rest of us, the Minnesota Star Tribune took a look at how their times compare to the average marathon participant.
The 2022 Twin Cities Marathon men’s winner was Japanese competitor Yuya Yoshida, who ran the marathon in a time of 2 hours, 11 minutes and 28 seconds, for an average speed of 11.96 mph. He averaged 5 minutes and 2 seconds per mile.
That’s more than twice the speed of the average competitor across both the men’s and women’s categories, of 5.89 mph, according to race results site Mtec. The average participant finished in 4 hours, 26 minutes and 56 seconds. That comes out to an average time of 10 minutes and 11 seconds per mile.
And taking it to the most extreme, the fastest-ever marathon runner, Kelvin Kiptum of Kenya, finished the 2023 Chicago Marathon in 2 hours and 35 seconds, for an average pace of about 13 mph. Kiptum averaged 4 minutes and 36 seconds per mile.
Here is a graphic showing these differences in average marathon speed.
