You know a race is going to be special when it is a unique distance. Mostly we see 5Ks and 10Ks, but you don’t see too many 4-Mile races around. Fortunately for us, the Dune Dash 4-Mile Run/Walk is not only unique in distance, but in many other aspects as well.
Painter Catherine VanVoorhis brings the accumulated knowledge of her three-decades long relationship with the Sleeping Bear Dunes to canvas. An exhibition of VanVoorhis’s take on Leelanau County’s iconic natural features will be exhibited at Center Gallery, 6023 S. Lake St., Glen Arbor. This show runs Aug. 11-17. An artist’s reception opens the exhibition on Friday, Aug. 11, 6-8 p.m.
This week, I have an insane hill workout to share with you all: running the famous dune climb at The Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. Not only is the initial hill a “bear” (get it?) but the rolling hills that follow had my heart pumping like never before.
The Glen Arbor Art Association (GAAA) brings Wisconsin-based blues powerhouse The Jimmys to the Sleeping Bear Dunes for the annual Manitou Music Festival Dune Climb Concert, Sunday, July 9, at 7 p.m.
Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore is restoring an 0.8-mile section of National Park Service-owned dirt track in the Sleeping Bear Dunes Wilderness in the vicinity of Good Harbor. The unnamed route traveled south from West Lake Michigan Road to Shell Lake.
Endurance Evolution puts on some of the best races in northern Michigan. This year, the USATF-certified Glen Arbor Solstice Half Marathon and 5k takes place on June 17. The half marathon starts at 7 a.m. and the 5k starts 10 minutes later. As you may have guessed, this annual event takes place right around the summer solstice. The solstice marks the onset of summer, one of the jolliest times of the year in Northern Michigan. Running a race in Glen Arbor is the perfect way to kick off the start of this long-awaited season.
Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore will again be hosting its successful barn restoration workshop June 19-24 at the Frederick Dechow Barn four miles north of Glen Arbor on M-22. This year marks the 21st year that the National Lakeshore has hosted and developed this series of “hands-on” workshops which started in 1997. The park maintenance staff is providing the skilled labor to put on this workshop.
Last June 22, before Scott Tucker had finished his first week as the new superintendent at Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, a vacationer drowned while snorkeling in Loon Lake near the Platte River. Two weeks later, an 81-year-old man from southeast Michigan perished in Big Glen Lake when his boat drifted away while he was swimming. And on Sept. 5, a 21-year-old died when his kayak capsized near Platte Bay in Lake Michigan waters. Three drowning deaths in or near our National Lakeshore.
More than 900 athletes came out to the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore early Saturday morning to participate in the ninth annual M22 Challenge. Nicholas Amato, 20, of Suttons Bay, was the first in the men’s group to cross the finish line at a time of 1:15:06, with Jamie Endicott, 24, of Oak Park, securing the top honor among the women with a time of 1:26:46.
Northern Michigan’s largest brand puts on one of the best athletic events of the year. At 8 a.m. on Saturday, June 10, 900 racers will line up for the ninth annual M22 Challenge. The race includes a 2.5-mile run, 17-mile bicycle ride, and 2.5-mile paddle — making it the most unique “tri” event in northern Michigan.