Cedar Polka Fest – Race Series
About this race
The Cedar Polka Fest has been a popular Leelanau County tradition for the past 44 years, 2026 marks the sixth year of our festival race event -The Cedar Polka Fest – Run 4 The Kielbasa. This Four-mile event begins and ends in downtown Cedar and includes free entry to the polka fest and a complimentary beer / pop!We welcome all Runners, Walkers, Strollers, Wheelchair Racers and Dogs to this professionally timed event.
If you can’t make the race, no worries! You can run the race VIRTUALLY! By participating in a virtual setting, you will still receive an awesome collectible T-Shirt and support the Cedar Community.
The Pierogi Fun Run. Want to participate in the fun but 4 miles is more sausage than you want to bite off? Sign up for the Pierogi Fun Run! Less steps on your fitness tracker but free Polka Fest entry and drink are just as fun!
Event Schedule
Packet Pick up & Late Registration
Date: Friday, August 28th, 5 to 7pm
Location: In front of the Polka Fest tent
Packet Pick up & Race Day Registration
Date: Saturday, August 29th, 7 to 7:45am
Location: At the Race Start Line near the 4 way stop in beautiful downtown Cedar.
Race Starts at 8:00am
The race starts promptly at 8:00AM. Participants are encouraged to dress up for this fun event. We will gather for the playing of our National Anthem at 7:55AM near the starting line at the Intersection of Bellinger and Cedar Road.
Prizes will be given to Men’s and Women’s Overall 1st -3rd place age group winners.
Awards
Awards are available as soon as the timing company compiles the list. Awards can be picked up at the Registration Booth near the race Start / Finish Line.
After the event
Stick around for the Polka Fest Parade, the Craft Show & Farmers Market or to Dance the night away to some of the best Polka bands in the Midwest.
You must register online before August 14th to receive a T-Shirt. We will have extras on race day for those who register after this date, but there is no guarantee on size. First come, first serve. This is a one of a kind event with a highly collectible T-shirt.
Online registration closes at 7AM August 29th, 2025.
Pick your distance
Running
Run 4 The Kielbasa
The Classic 4 mile run and pancake breakfast combo! You never sausage a race! Awesome Race Medals for Top 3 Finishers in all Categories!
Virtual Run 4 The Kielbasa
If you can’t make the race, no worries! You can run the race VIRTUALLY! By participating in a virtual setting, you will still receive an awesome collectible T-Shirt and support the Cedar Community.
Run 2 The Pierogi
Want to participate in the fun but 4 miles is more sausage than you want to bite off? Sign up for the Pierogi Fun Run!
Typical race-day weather
Based on 7 years of Open-Meteo archive data for this event's race dates in Cedar, plus the 3 days either side.
The sun rises at 7:02 AM and sets at 8:25 PM local time (EDT) in Cedar on August 29, 2026 — 13h 23m of daylight.
Course
No course map published yet.
The organizer hasn't released a route for this event, and we don't publish guesses. If you're the organizer, send us a GPX file and we'll draw the profile.
Reviews
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2026 results — Cedar Polka Fest – Race Series
Run 4 The Kielbasa · 186 finishers
| Place | Name | Time | Pace |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ricky Woods | 21:31 | 5:23 /mi |
| 2 | Abbey Ehlers | 24:44 | 6:11 /mi |
| 3 | Eric Beights | 25:23 | 6:21 /mi |
| 4 | Michael Keim | 25:41 | 6:25 /mi |
| 5 | Andrew Lyjak | 26:04 | 6:31 /mi |
Every finisher is on the results page, filterable by distance, gender and age group.
All results by year
Other races near Cedar
Different organizers, within 40 miles, in the next three months
Vineyard at Sunset 5K
Iceman Cometh Challenge
Fleet Feet Traverse City Jolly Jog Fun Run/Walk
TCTC Jingle Bell Run
🏃 Plan Your Next Race in Cedar
Find upcoming events by distance:
- Cedar Running Calendar 2026 2 races
Where this page comes from. Race details were last updated on . We re-check listings regularly and again in the week before race day.
- Entries, prices, waves and inclusions — the event's official registration page
- Temperature and humidity — Copernicus ERA5 reanalysis via Open-Meteo (CC BY 4.0)
- Elevation and terrain relief — Copernicus DEM GLO-90, ESA (CC BY 4.0)
- Comparisons and counts — Race Discovery calendar, 2 Cedar events
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