[A note to SwissSojourner followers: I recently had cause to return to my home town of Minneapolis/Saint Paul for a few weeks. While visiting, I decided that although this blog has been exclusively devoted to my experiences here in Switzerland and its environs across Europe, from time to time I will break tradition and focus on other “non-European” topics or experiences that interest me. This post – and the one that will follow in a couple days – will be of particular interest to my family and friends back in Minnesota.]

Each year, the Twin Cities hosts what is billed as “the most beautiful urban marathon in the United States”. The marathon takes place in early October, when the fall colors in Minnesota are at their peak. Here is a photo I took of some of the runners with about 3 miles to go.

These runners are jamming to the Loons at the 23-mile mark!

One of the neat things that the marathon sponsors do to support the runners is to select a number of musical bands, who volunteer their time, to play along the course’s final five miles. This year, my favorite local band, the Loons out of Eagan, Minnesota, were among the bands selected for the honor. I recorded two songs that they performed, and posted them to Youtube. Enjoy. Or not, its entirely up to you.

This is a tune many of you will recognize, a cover by Led Zeppelin, called “Ocean”.

This tune is an original song called “Sinkline” by the Loons, and features some slick guitar work towards the end by their lead guitarist, Patrick: