Tim Walz Just Ran a Surprisingly Fast 10-Miler—Finishing 11 Seconds Quicker Than His Daughter

For a second straight October, Tim Walz spent part of Twin Cities Marathon Weekend running 10 miles with his daughter, Hope. The two were back at it Sunday, crossing the finish line just 11 seconds apart, with another set of medals and a pretty happy father-daughter photo to show for it.The Minnesota governor, 62, and Hope, 25, were among the 9,559 finishers at the TC 10-Mile, part of the annual Twin Cities Marathon Weekend. Sporting consecutive bib numbers (22722 and 22723), Walz finished in 1:26:15 at an 8:45 pace, placing 2,134th overall. Hope was right there with a 1:26:26 finish, averaging 8:46 per mile for 2,164th place.Of course, this isn’t their first 10-mile rodeo. Just last year, Walz ran the same race with Hope and clocked 1:38:12, making Sunday's performance almost 12 minutes faster. Before that race, he'd promised to run alongside his daughter, although he couldn't resist telling local reporters, “My kids still can't beat me yet.”And Walz doesn't exactly save running exclusively for race weekends. In a 2024 first-person essay for Runner's World, he shared that his staff knows to carve out time for a four- to five-mile run before major events, even when his schedule is particularly demanding. Getting those miles in has become one of his preferred ways to decompress.He's certainly had more time-focused ambitions in the past, including chasing a sub-20-minute 5K with tempo runs and hill workouts. Earlier in life, he used track to “stay conditioned” for football and basketball and continued running throughout his 24 years in the National Guard. These days, his goal is to “stay consistent and enjoy the process” and, ideally, “still be running when I'm 80 years old.”Not every runner he's encountered at the Twin Cities 10 Mile has necessarily agreed with his politics, either. In that same essay, Walz recalled one participant telling him he disagreed with everything the governor did in office but was “proud of me for being a committed runner.”Hope appeared pretty pleased with their latest outing, sharing a post-race Instagram photo of the pair smiling and showing off their medals with the caption, “tc 10 mile! best race ever! 😎🦦🪩👾🤎”Supporters were equally enthusiastic, especially about what has become an annual tradition for the pair they've labeled a “power duo.” Twin Cities in Motion also caught them on camera for an Instagram Story, with Walz standing beside Hope.“Thanks everybody, marathon weekend here. Best urban marathon in America,” he said. “Running it with my daughter, doesn't get better.”Find Your Next Running PlaylistSean Abrams was the Senior Editor, Growth and Engagement at Men’s Health. He’s a former hip hop dancer who likes long walks on the beach and large glasses of tequila. You can find his previous work at Maxim, Elite Daily, and AskMen.