Free. You can start with nothing.
A rollout and small loop (about 11 miles) south of the start, then the big loop (about 20 miles) twice, counterclockwise then clockwise. 9 aid stations. Start and finish at the Forestville Trailhead.
The small loop is about 11 miles and includes a 1.5-mile rollout, then the big loop (about 20 miles) twice, counterclockwise then clockwise. The race gives total elevation gain as approximately 5,520 feet (an estimate from a Garmin GPX), not stored as a number because it is approximate. The race's aid chart ends the 50M at mile 51. Ultrarunning Magazine rates the course 3 of 5 for terrain (Hilly) and 4 of 5 for surface (trail with substantial rocks, roots and/or ruts). Cutoffs are strictly enforced. The mile 31 cutoff (Forestville) allows a 16:45 min/mile average and the mile 22 cutoff (Harlow Lake 1st Bridge) allows a 20:45 min/mile average, per the race.
A 50-kilometer and a 50-mile trail race on mostly single-track in Marquette, Michigan, in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. The course climbs four peaks (Sugarloaf, Top-of-the-World, Bareback and Hogback) with views of Lake Superior, and runs along the shoreline in places. Both races start and finish at the Forestville Trailhead, with a mass start at 5:30 AM on Saturday.
The results page lists editions from 2009 on, with no race in 2020 (COVID). It lists a 100K and a 50K relay in 2015 to 2017. It notes course records are based on results after 2015, a major course change.
| Mile | Station | Cutoff | Crew access | Bag | Pacer | Med | To next |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0.00 | NTN Forestville Trailhead (Start) | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | 6.00 |
| 6.00 | BLP Wooden Bridge | ? | ● | ? | ? | ? | 5.00 |
| 11.00 | NTN Forestville Trailhead | 9:00am | ? | ● | ? | ? | 4.00 |
| 15.00 | Sugarloaf Mountain Parking Lot | 11:00am | ● | ? | ? | ? | 7.00 |
| 22.00 | Harlow Lake 1st Bridge | 1:00pm | ● | ● | ? | ? | 3.50 |
| 25.50 | Harlow Lake Old Railroad Grade | ? | ● | ? | ? | ? | 5.50 |
| 31.00 | NTN Forestville Trailhead | 2:00pm | ? | ● | ? | ? | 5.50 |
| 36.50 | Harlow Lake Old Railroad Grade | ? | ● | ? | ? | ? | 3.50 |
| 40.00 | Harlow Lake 1st Bridge | 4:45pm | ● | ● | ? | ? | 7.00 |
| 47.00 | Sugarloaf Mountain Parking Lot | 7:00pm | ● | ? | ? | ? | 4.00 |
| 51.00 | NTN Forestville Trailhead (Finish) | 8:30pm | ? | ● | ? | ? | ? |
3.5-mile drive to aid station, about 10-15 minutes. Turn LEFT from NTN Forestville Trailhead Parking Lot, go down the hill, GO STRAIGHT, then TAKE A RIGHT. Follow this and cross the active railroad grade, making a LEFT onto Forestville Road. Continue 1.7 miles on pavement to Wright Street. Take a LEFT, down the hill about 1 mile (past the gate with square opening), to a parking lot ON THE LEFT (trailhead with map of trails). Park here. Walk down the hill until you reach a wooden bridge (0.2 mile).
Parking. Parking lot on the left on Wright Street, the trailhead with a map of trails. The aid station is a 0.2 mile walk down the hill to the wooden bridge.
marquettetrail50.com9-mile drive to aid station, about 20 minutes. Return out to Wright St. At Wright St. turn LEFT. Follow Wright St. East. Go straight at the first roundabout. At the second roundabout, about 2.7 miles [Northern Michigan University will be on your right], take the third exit onto Sugarloaf Avenue, and take this 0.5 mile to Country Road 550/Big Bay Road. Turn LEFT, and follow CR550 North 3.5 miles to the first (new) Sugarloaf Mountain Parking Lot. Parking lot is on the right side of the road. Walk up the connector trail and turn left to walk down to the aid station (.3 miles).
Parking. Park in the first (new) Sugarloaf Mountain Parking Lot, on the right side of CR550. Parking is prohibited in the old Sugarloaf lot. The aid station is a 0.3 mile walk from the lot.
marquettetrail50.com3-mile drive to aid station, about 5-7 minutes. Turn RIGHT out the Sugarloaf Parking Lot. Take County Road 550 North about 2.5 miles to Harlow Lake Road. LEFT on Harlow Lake Road [it's easy to miss... The road to Little Presque Isle, a fabulous beach, is just past your turn on the right... if you get to the 4-lane section of CR550 you went too far.] Go down gravel road about 0.6 mile. When you first see Harlow Lake, then a small turn-out is on the left, before the first bridge.
Parking. A small turn-out on the left, before the first bridge, where Harlow Lake first comes into view.
marquettetrail50.com0.6-mile drive, about 2 minutes. Continue down Harlow Lake Road, cross 3 vehicle bridges, pass a turn off for Harlow Lake Cabins... Now stay to the LEFT... You will come to the Southwest corner of Harlow Lake where the Old Railroad Grade and Forestville Road intersect [no signs]. Aid station will be in this sandy parking lot.
Parking. The aid station is in the sandy parking lot at the southwest corner of Harlow Lake, where the Old Railroad Grade and Forestville Road meet. There are no signs.
marquettetrail50.comOne person has been out there with a camera or a microphone.
These are other people's work and we link straight to them. Watching costs nothing and needs no account. More of them: every race we hold, on film.
Nobody sees it until we have read it. No account, no sign-in.
This changes nothing on the page on its own. Somebody checks it against the race first.
Somebody watches it before it goes anywhere near this page. What we are after is footage of this course, on the ground. If it would be just as true of any other race, it is not this.
We want the address of the file the race publishes, not the file. We download it from there so the page can say where the line came from.
We read every one of these and we write back. Every fact here carries the source it came from, and the way a wrong one gets fixed is a person checking it against what you tell us.
Cutoffs move, races get postponed, lotteries open and close. We read the race's own sources and record where every fact came from. Put your email in and we will send you what changed, and where we read it.
No account, and nothing to cancel.
What happens to your email. Nothing else. I do not sell it, and I will not send you anything except this race changing. One click gets you out.
I keep this catalog because the information is scattered and hard to trust. Telling you when it moves is the same job.
