So how did the Back 9 Endurance Run become a reality?
The idea of a race at the Keweenaw Mountain Lodge came about during a conversation between lodge team members, when Mariah Summers was asked if the lodge should host some sort of running race in 2020. Mariah, being an avid trail runner, already had an idea for a race that started years ago when she was living in the state of Washington with her husband who was in the Army. She always wanted to direct a running race in the Keweenaw. Not wanting to duplicate other events that are held in the Keweenaw and the upper pennisula of Michigan, Mariah identified a type of race that is new to the area. Thus, the 12/24 hour race idea was born — an endurance run.
The Race Founder: Mariah Summers
Mariah is no stranger to running. She started running in 2011, on a treadmill at the gym as a weight loss initiative after having her second child. The next year she ran her first marathon in 2012. And later that same year, she ran her first ultra by completing 46 miles at the Transcendence 12-hour Ultra Endurance Challenge in Olympia, WA. Running and racing quickly became a way of life. She has completed over 100 races, of distances from 5k to 50 miles. She has coached various trail running groups and training programs, and has put in a number of volunteer hours maintaining trails, working aid stations, sweeping races, and working the finish line/timing.
Coming up with the name of the race
The Back 9 Endurance run name was a challenge in itself. The first idea for the race name was, Sisu Endurance! This seemed like a wonderful and relevant name, because Sisu is “a special strength and persistent determination and resolve to continue and overcome in the moment of adversity…an almost magical quality, a combination of stamina, perseverance, courage, and determination held in reserve for hard times.” The Finnish term describes what it will take to succeed in an endurance race, and goes with the Finnish heritage of the Keweenaw. However, a 24-hour race in California had already coined the name Sisu Endurance.
The next name we came up was “Moose on the Loose”. This is the name of one of the trails on the property, of which the race will be traversing. The name is fun, and goes with the wilderness aspect of the lodge and the race. However, come to find out a race in nearby Marquette, Michigan had the name for their race. Back to square one!
Finally, Back 9 was named after an email conversation Mariah had with Nathan Miller of the Copper Harbor Trails Club. Trying to lend a hand, he sent a few suggestions for the name of the race. One of those suggests was “Back 9”. The set of trails the race will run through are called the Back 9 Trails, as the back 9 of the Keweenaw Mountain Lodge golf course was routed but never built. The Back 9 is now home to a set of beginner mountain bike trails and cross country ski trails. And now, the Back 9 Endurance Run!
The route of the race
The idea for the route of the race was that it would be between 3-5 miles and showcase as much of the Keweenaw Mountain Lodge grounds as possible. That distance is a good distance for this type of race because it’s just long enough so that you don’t feel like a hamster on a wheel, but short enough so that it will be a fun challenge towards the end of the race deciding if you have enough time to get in one more round!
Selecting the date to hold the race
Next was selecting a date. As 2020 was nearly booked full with events already, there were not many to choose from! We initially felt that October was a good month to host the race at the Lodge as it was towards the end of the summer / fall season. However, it was decided the Lodge would continue to host the Keweenaw Cup Cyclocross race as a successful cyclocross race in 2019. It became evident then that we would look for a date in the early part of the summer / fall season. The Lodge opens up for the summer / fall season in May. Thus, mid May was selected as the time for the endurance race. There was a moment of thinking that six months may not be long enough to market, plan, and organize a race as well as it might not be enough time to give runners to train for the challenge. But, we decided to go for it, even if the first year ended up being small. We know that it has the potential to grow and attract runners from all over!