Keweenaw Trail Running Festival

Distances: 10k, 2k kid's run, 5.8k hill climb, 25k
http://www.greatlakesendurance.com/
This is a trail running series composed of a 10k on Saturday morning, the hill climb Saturday evening, and the 25k on Sunday morning. The kid's run is after the 10k. You can enter individual races if you like, but I recommend doing the whole series. This series was a blast!!! The race is at the very tip of Michigan's Upper Penninsula, so it's a little difficult to get to (especially from Montana) but very scenic. The 10k is a net uphill with lots of rolling whoop-de-do hills. There was a lot of technical single-track during the middle section of the race, which made it difficult to pass, so try to get yourself into a good position by the time you cross Hwy 41. I thought that coming from the Rocky Mtns, would make the hill climb a piece of cake. Instead I found it surprisingly steep. You start out on a beach alongside Lake Superior, so you have shoes full of sand for the entire run. After a few hundred feet you get up on a road until about the 1/2 mile mark. From there it was all uphill on a jeep-width trail with some loose rock. Race followed by a dinner at the host lodge. The 25k the following morning was tough and was sort of a trail run potpourri. There is steep downhill soon after the start, you run along the shore of a lake to the aid station. You then make a loop on techincal, rolling single track. Followed by a different loop on a combination of dirt roads and single track with some mud bogging and a creek crossing. You pass by the aid station one last time before heading back up the steep hill. From the top of the hill, it's only a few hundred feet to the finish. The final race is followed by a breakfast and awards ceremony. The race had generous awards of local pottery and jam for the individual races and a wide assortment of gear for the series winners. The only minor problem was that the dinner after the hill climb was fairly late at night, which doesn't set you up for a great race the next day. I vote for a beach picnic at the race start, rather than driving all the way back to the lodge. As a last bit of advice, if you're going to go to the effort of getting to the Keweenaw penninsula, make a trip of it and spend some time before or after the race. It's a full weekend of racing and you don't have much energy between races to enjoy the other nearby trails, kayaking in Lake Superior, mtn. bike rentals, and local restaurants.