Queen City Trail Series - Copper Division
Queen City Trail Series - Copper Division logo

Queen City Trail Series - Copper Division

Houghton, Michigan, United States View on map
May 28, 2026 – Oct 10, 2026 (America/Detroit local time)
Trail running

About this race

Step off the roads this summer and become one with nature in the inaugural QCRC Trail Series! Unlike traditional trail races in the UP, this series spans three locations, with one race at each location occurring during the same day each month from May through September. That means five races in five months leading to the big finale in October.

Each month’s races will feature similar distances and difficulty across all locations, ensuring fair and consistent competition while still offering variety in terrain and challenge from month to month. Scoring will be based on a proportional system using each race’s winning time, allowing athletes to compete meaningfully across different courses.

The series culminates in October with a championship grand finale in Marquette, where runners from all three locations come together to race head-to-head for the overall Trail Series title. We’ll cap it all off with a post-race celebration, honoring everyone who embraced the challenge and endured miles of trail over six unforgettable months.

Sign Up for the races of the series you would like to participate in, the more races you run the higher your chances of winning the series!!

The races taking place on June 18th and August 6th will be held on the Michigan Tech Trails, you are asked to have an active MTU trails day pass to participate in those races. Day passes can be obtained here: https://mtu.universitytickets.com/w/event.aspx?id=5753&r=51b698ce4b1a4dec85ea9e488326f62d

Scoring will be based on a proportion of the maximum points (15) earned by the first place finisher of each race based on their finishing time. This will allow those who run more races to easily overcome those who run faster at 1 or 2 races of the series! 

Pick your distance

Trail running

Copper Division Race 1 - The Beginning

The first race of the trail series we will head to the Masto Trails and run a 5k on the trails there. The course will be uploaded to our socials prior to the event.

May 28, 2026 5K 6:00 PM
Free
Closed

Copper Division Race 2 - The Lactic Acid Trip

The second race of the trail series we will head to the Michigan Tech Trails and run a 6k on the trails there over the courses rolling hills. The course will be uploaded to our socials prior to the event.

May 28, 2026 6K 6:00 PM
Free
Closed

Copper Division Race 3 - The Long Run

The third race of the trail series we will head to the Masto Trails and run a 8k on the trails there. The course will be uploaded to our socials prior to the event.

May 28, 2026 8K 6:00 PM
Free
Closed

Copper Division Race 4 - The Hill Climb

The fourth race of the trail series we will head to the Michigan Tech Trails and run 3 mile on the trails there. We will use one of the trails more aggressive hills as a focal point for this race. The course will be uploaded to our socials prior to the event.

May 28, 2026 4.8K 6:00 PM
Free
Closed

Copper Division Race 5 - The Ripper

The fifth race of the trail series we will head to the Masto Trails and run a 6k on the trails there. The course will be uploaded to our socials prior to the event.

May 28, 2026 6K 6:00 PM
Free
Open

Trail Series Championship

This is the championship of the series that will be held in Marquette and bridge all of the three divisions together. Here each division will compete to run a 10k where we will acknowledge the winner of each division and the winner of the overall series!

May 28, 2026 10K 5:00 PM
Free
Open

Typical race-day weather

Based on 4 years of historical conditions on this event's race dates in Houghton.

Temp (°C)
Minimum temperature (race-day average) 14.0° / Maximum temperature (race-day average) 24.6°
Feels Like (°C)
Minimum feels like — heat index / wind chill (race-day average) 14.0° / Maximum feels like — heat index / wind chill (race-day average) 24.6°
Wind (km/h)
Average wind speed (race-day average)
16.1
Precip (mm)
Average precipitation (race-day average)
2.5mm
Humidity
Average relative humidity (race-day average)
68.4%

Course

Route map and elevation profile

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.

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Other races near Houghton

Different organizers, within 40 miles, in the next three months

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, 6 Houghton events

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