Fort2Fort Five Mile Challenge
About this race
Join us on Saturday, May 9th, 2026 for a unique event celebrating Fort Holmes and Fort Mackinac on Historic Mackinac Island to help support the efforts of Mackinac Historic State Parks! Now in its 9th year, this challenging 5 mile race is for runners and walkers of all ages and is always one to remember! Start inside Fort Mackinac to run or walk through beautiful, paved trails, past historic Island landmarks to Fort Holmes—the highest point of the Island—then travel back on the scenic paved trails to finish at Fort Mackinac!
All participants will receive FREE ENTRY to Fort Mackinac and other Mackinac Island attractions throughout the day, plus a great shirt and a unique burnt wood medal!
Traditional 9:00 a.m. mass start inside Fort Mackinac! Packet pick-up will be in the Pavilion, outside Fort Mackinac starting at 7:30AM, to 9:00AM on race day.
Note: Shepler's Ferry is offering Fort2Fort participants, along with their friends and family, a special discounted rate of $32/adult and $21/child (plus a $2 booking fee per ticket). You can purchase your ferry ticket(s) for the Fort2Fort by going directly to Shepler's Ferry. At checkout, use code 05FORT26 for adult tickets and childracer2026 for child tickets. Both codes can be used in the same transaction.
The Fort2Fort Five Mile is part of the Mackinac Island Trio Series! Register and complete either the Fort2Fort Five Mile Challenge or the Lilac Festival 10K, and both the Mackinac Island Eight Mile and Great Turtle Trail Run, and you will receive a special Mackinac Island Trio Series medal. This will be a separate medal from the other finisher’s medal and will be awarded following the Great Turtle Half Marathon.
Can't make it to the Island on May 9th, but want to support the MHSP? Join us in the 2026 Virtual Run! You will receive the bib, shirt, medal and free Fort Mackinac pass via USPS, and can upload your virtual race time to the results page.
Pick your distance
Running
Five Mile Run
You may run the entire distance, or walk part of it.
Virtual 5 Mile Race
You may run or walk the Virtual race at your convenience. Race packets (bib, shirt, swag, medal and park pass) will be mailed to Virtual participants within a week of the race.
Walking
Five Mile Walk
You must walk at all times during this event - absolutely no running at any time. If you think you may want to run even a small portion of the event, please register in the Run/Walk
Race-day daylight
We have no recorded weather for Mackinac Island yet, but sunrise and sunset follow from the venue and the date.
The sun rises at 6:13 AM and sets at 8:56 PM local time (EDT) in Mackinac Island on May 9, 2026 — 14h 42m 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 — Fort2Fort Five Mile Challenge
312 finishers across 3 distances · leading places in the Five Mile Run
| Place | Name | Time | Pace |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Drew Moore | 28:56 | 5:47 /mi |
| 2 | Mason Cross | 29:36 | 5:55 /mi |
| 3 | Hunter Hillard | 29:45 | 5:57 /mi |
| 4 | Ryan Harris | 33:31 | 6:42 /mi |
| 5 | Gary Pipes | 35:27 | 7:05 /mi |
Every finisher is on the results page, filterable by distance, gender and age group.
All results by year
Other races near Mackinac Island
Different organizers, within 40 miles, in the next three months
Mackinac Island Great Turtle Half Marathon & 5.7 Mile
Wolverine State 100
Morally Grey 5K Run/Walk
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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, 5 Mackinac Island events
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