Strava link: https://www.strava.com/activities/9680329428/overview
This Michigan race is one that’s been on my radar for a while. It sells out within hours once they open up registration on Black Friday every year, so it’s one to jump on early or you’ll miss out! I had registered for the 2021 event, but then later ended up electing to run the Pikes Peak Ascent in Colorado, which fell on the same day. So the 2021 Marquette Trail 50 became my first DNS (Did Not Start).
I registered again for the 2023 event, and this time I participated. Part of the 50K route uses the North Country National Scenic Trail (NCT), so I got to preview a section of the course a month before race day with my friends Matt, Amie, and Dave during an NCT section run. Amie and I got stung by ground bees.
Matt and I traveled up the day before the race and shared a hotel room in Marquette. We had a mediocre meal at Hudson’s Classic Grill & Bar for dinner. I met some runner friends, Stefanie and Tasha, from southern Michigan at packet pickup and they offered to pick Matt and I up at our hotel in the morning, as parking was limited and the race organizers encourage carpooling. Thanks Stefanie and Tasha!
This race offers both a 50K and a 50 mile option. Matt and I were both running the 50K distance, which was enough! It’s a tough course. And bees. The race director warned us that we would more likely than not be stung by ground bees during the race. He was right!
The race began early, so we ran the first few miles by the light of our headlamps. Matt and I started together, but after following a cluster of runners soaked in Deet mosquito spray (which I am very sensitive/possibly allergic to) I had to get around them. So I took off ahead as the sky began to lighten.
After a short loop, the rest of the 50K course followed a longer loop that summited four of the peaks in the Marquette area, including Sugarloaf and Hogback Mountain. The 50K was rugged, mostly technical singletrack with about 4,000′ elevation gain.
At dawn we were running along a river and past some ponds in the northern forest.
Then we reached a section of the North Country Trail with lots of rocks and roots. And bees. I felt the sharp stings on my leg as ground bees attacked my ankles and calves. At least two stings from that spot.
The Marquette area has bedrock outcroppings, and many of these afforded great views of Lake Superior and some small inland lakes. The weather was perfect in the morning, although it got warm in the sun later in the morning and in the afternoon.
The first big climb was up Sugarloaf, where there are viewing platforms overlooking Lake Superior and the surrounding landscape. There was a race photographer at the top, so I had to strike a pose!
The trail descended steeply off of Sugarloaf down to Wetmore Landing, and the trail followed the Lake Superior shoreline for a few miles. This is also an overlap section of the North Country Trail and I didn’t mind doing it for the second time in a month. It’s a really beautiful section of trail!
I had pushed pretty hard early in the race but it was catching up with me as the day warmed up, and I also needed to make a stop at the outhouse, so the miles after Wetmore Landing were a little slower going.
After refueling at an aid station I took on the other major climbs of the race, to the summits of Bareback and then Hogback. I got stung by a bee one more time near the top of Hogback, in the upper thigh this time. But the views from the summit are really incredible.
I took a moment at the top of Hogback to admire the expansive views. Then it was back down into the shade of the forest for the home stretch to the finish line.
I finished in the early afternoon with a time of about 7 hours 20 minutes. I was happy with it. Real food and shaded seating awaited the finishers and I took advantage of that while I waited for Matt to come through. We met up with Stefanie and Tasha there and exchanged stories (“how many times did you get stung?”) before the girls brought us back to our hotel.
Matt and I went to a Lake Superior beach to wade into the refreshing water and lounge in camp chairs for a while that afternoon. Despite living in Michigan, I haven’t done many races in this state. But this was a great race to experience!