Ludington Lakestride Half Marathon, 10K & 5K

Saturday, June 8, 2024 • Ludington, MI • 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 a tradition here for more than 30 years, and typically sees about 1,000 runners cross the finish line in both races each year.

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.

June 8 average low temp: 55°F
June 8 average high temp: 69°F

Past Results

Course Map

See the race route map for the Ludington Lakestride Half Marathon here.

Starting Time

8:00 AM – half marathon
8:10 AM – 5K
8:20 AM – 10K

Fees

$35 and up – half marathon
$35 and up – 10K
$35 and up – 5K

Registration

To reserve your spot in the 2024 running of the Ludington Lakestride Half Marathon, 10K or 5K race, register online at RunSignup.com here.

Official Race Website

www.ludingtonlakestride.com

Comments

Ever run in the Ludington Lakestride Half Marathon? Share your impressions here, or post your review in the Comments below.

See more races in: June, Michigan

1 comment… add one

Chris Kennedy February 12, 2023, 3:16 pm

Hi…When I try to sign up for the 10km race, you folks tell me that I am an “invalid registrant.”

I swear that I do indeed exist. Just ask my wife.

Can I sign up on the race day or do I need to find some other race?

Thanks for letting me know, Chris Kennedy, Whitehall, MI

Reply