Not only the first for the Keweenaw Mountain Lodge, the first of its kind in the U.P.! The Back 9 Endurance Run is a 12/24 Hour endurance run that takes place on a 3.7 mile loop at the historic Keweenaw Mountain Lodge in Copper Harbor, MI.
Runners will wind their way through a mix of Back 9 trails (these trails pass through the area once meant to be holes 10-18 of our golf course), golf course, hills, mud, and forest with spectacular views of Brockway Mountain.
For a GPS compatible route of the Back 9 Endurance Run route, please follow the link below:
[ Back 9 Endurance Run Course Map (in Gaia) ]
The Back 9 course starts at the gazebo behind the Keweenaw Mountain Lodge conference center.
From there, runners will turn right onto the service road, and head toward the back of the golf course. You will pass the entrance to the Back 9 trails. Do NOT enter the trail system. You will be exiting from there at the end of the loop.
At the end of the service road, past the Hiking Trail sign, runners will bear right onto the old Golf Course Rd. that you will follow along the back of the golf course. This is not an actual road, it had grown in and is now more of a four wheeler trail. Runners will then merge onto the golf course, over a small bridge, and onto a paved path.
Follow the path to the bottom of the golf course, where runners will leave the paved path and merge left towards the rock wall bordering the property, and run along the tree line. Through this section, follow the tree line keeping the flags to your right. If at any time you see flags to your left, that means you have wandered too far onto the golf course. Run back towards the tree line until the flags are on your right.
Leaving the golf course, you will turn left while crossing the Lodge driveway, towards an old well structure. From here, you will turn right onto the Cabin Life trail. Follow Cabin life until you reach the pole line, where there is an intersection of trails. Flags will guide you straight through the intersection, onto Chipmunk Run.
Follow Chipmunk Run to Moose on the Loose. There will be a U-shaped line of flags guiding you to a hard left onto Moose on the Loose. At the intersection of Moose on the Loose and Little Loon, turn left onto Little Loon. This will be slightly before you get to the actual intersection sign. Follow Little Loon, and you will pop back out onto Moose on the Loose. Continue to follow Moose on the Loose, it will cross Chipmunk Run where flags will guide you straight through. You will exit Moose on the Loose back onto the service road, where you will turn right and run back to the gazebo area.
The course is marked by orange flags, spaced ~50 feet apart with day/night reflective tape on them. The flags are placed so the runner should always keep them to their right.
There will be heavy lines of flags guiding you through intersections or along hard turns that might be easy to miss otherwise. Do not attempt to follow orange or blue ribbons tied to trees, or blue diamonds nailed to trees. These are markings from other events or the Trails club and are not part of the Back 9 race. Follow only the orange flags with reflective tape on them.
Have fun!
