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Michigan > Ludington Lakestride Half Marathon, 10K & 5K
Ludington, MI • Saturday, June 8, 2013 • Course Map
Run along a combination of tree-lined park roads as well as wooded trails here along the eastern shore of Lake Michigan at the Ludington Lakestride Half Marathon, 10K & 5K, which has been an annual tradition here for more than 30 years, and typically sees about 1,000 runners cross the finish line in both races each year, including between 400 and 500 runners in the half marathon.
The race takes runners along both city streets in Ludington and through parkland trails inside Ludington State Park, the 5,300-acre park that lies along the lakeshore and is one of the area's most popular fishing, boating, hiking and beach destinations. Located at the mouth of the Pere Marquette River right along the lake, the park trails and roads make up most of the 13.1-mile route for the half marathon, which starts and finishes just to the park's south in Ludington.
From the starting line on Lakeshore Drive at the intersection with Tinkham Avenue (near Ludington's Oriole Field athletic park), runners start out by heading north along Lakeshore Drive for the race's first couple of miles. The route turns off left onto Highway 116 at about the mile 2 marker, and then again to the right between mile markers 2 and 3, this time onto Piney Ridge Road along the edge of the state park.
Runners follow Piney Ridge Road for roughly the next mile and a half until they reach the stretch of the race that takes them off the road and onto the trails that snake through the woods, which last about 1.8 miles. Filled with hills to climb and quickly descend, this section of the course is "like a roller coaster," organizers say, as runners make their way through a forest filled with mature oak, birch, maple and beech nut trees, and the trails wind their way northward toward the dam at Lost Lake.
After exiting the wooded trails, runners then make their way across the sandy dunes and over the dam to the parking lot and the park road, which they follow as it curves around to re-join Highway 116. Runners then follow 116 south for a long, flat stretch along the Lake Michigan shoreline, which lasts for a full three miles before bringing runners back around to Lakeshore Drive, and the home stretch in to the finish line at the beach in Stearns Park.
Race Weather & Climate
Located along the eastern shore of Lake Michigan in the state's Lower Peninsula, just west of the Manistee National Forest and roughly 100 miles northwest of Grand Rapids, Ludington typically sees mild to moderately warm weather in June, when the city's average monthly temperatures range between 52°F and 77°F.
On the day of the race (June 8), the average low is 50°F and the average high is 75°F, while rainfall totals average just over 3.1 inches for the month.
Course Map
View the race route map for the Ludington Lakestride Half Marathon
Fees
See race website
Registration
To reserve your spot in the late spring/early summer 2013 running of the Ludington Lakestride Half Marathon or 5K race, register online at SignMeUp.com.
Official Race Website
www.ludingtonlakestride.com
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