EVENT DETAILS

2026 Ultra Bird Trail Races & RUCK Challenge
Saturday, October 10, 2026
📍 Pigeon Creek County Park — West Olive, Michigan

Push your limits and carry the mission at Ultra Bird — a fall endurance event on the trails, benefiting the Egress Endurance Project.

Trail Running
🏃 12-Hour · 6-Hour — accumulate as many loops as possible in your time window
🏃 10K · 5K

RUCK Challenge
🎒 12-Hour · 6-Hour · 3-Hour — carry a ruck or weighted vest and accumulate as many loops as possible in your time window. We encourage ruckers to carry a minimum of 10–20 lbs. (See RUCK Challenge details below.)

The Course
A ~5K loop of rolling terrain, wooded trails, and peak fall color. The looped format means frequent aid station access, easy crew support, and spectators who actually get to see you.

Why We Run & Ruck
Every step supports the Egress Endurance Project, a nonprofit empowering individuals battling addiction through outdoor movement, structured endurance challenges, and meaningful community.

Course

All runners will start and finish at the Pigeon Creek Ski Lodge. Runners will race on a 5k loop on the well groomed and scenic trails of Pigeon Creek. Elevation gain per loop is around 165 ft. One "bigger" steady climb with a big downhill per loop.

*We want to note that the park will still be open to the public during our event due to Ottawa County Parks regulations. We will have signage and the trails will be marked where runners will be running so that people will be well aware there is an event taking place, however we cannot legally instruct people to stay off the trails and out of the park. Please join us in showing respect and professionalism to all people at the park on race day! We take pride in "sharing our trails" and we ask that you do as well!

Race Accommodations:

Parking will be available on-site at Pigeon Creek County Park within walking distance of the start/finish. Address for Pigeon Creek Park: 12524 Stanton Street, West Olive, MI 49460

There will be an aid station at the start/finish as well as a place for "drop bags". We will have hydration, trail snacks/food (Pre-packaged), and amazing volunteers and staff to keep motivating you to the finish!

Bathrooms will be available at the start/finish in the lodge.

Pacers

Pacers ARE allowed for the 12 and 6 hour events!

12 & 6 Hour Rules

12 HR race starts at TBD
6 HR race starts at TBD

LAST LOOP RULE: If you come into the Start/Finish 15 Minutes before cut off , you may elect to go out for one (1) final loop. You MUST start your final loop AT or BEFORE 15 minutes before the end of your event.There are no bonus loops for this event.

DROPPING: You may drop AT ANY TIME. You do NOT need to run the whole amount of time that you have signed up for. That is the beauty of a "timed-ultra"!

Packet Pick Up

2026 Packet Pick-up will be held on Saturday, Oct. 10 (RACE DAY) at the Pigeon Creek Lodge. 7:00 AM - 7:50 AM.
5K & 10K runners can pick up their bib’s between 8:15 AM and 8:50 AM.

Tents & Personal Aid Stations

Runners and their crew are welcome to set up their own tent or personal aid station along the first 0.25+ miles of the course, just past the Start/Finish. We call this section "Tent City" — it runs right along the main parking lot, so plenty of runners also use their cars as an aid station. Spots are first-come, first-served, and all we ask is that everyone is courteous and shares the space. (We've never had an issue — there's more than enough room for everyone!)

12&6 HR Requirements

All 12&6 HR runners will need to bring a head lamp.

Cancellation, Refunds and Bib-Transfers

This event will be held rain or shine! There are NO refunds for this event, you may however transfer your Bib to another runner or to another Egress Endurance Event. (Differences in event price will not be refunded if any, and the “balance” of event differences needs to be paid if transferring the event is more expensive.) If a bib transfer needs to take place please reach out to egressendurance@gmail.com

Questions

Please do not hesitate to ask questions! You can email all questions to egressendurance@gmail.com

Also check out: www.egressendurance.org or follow us on social media @egressendurance IG and @egressenduranceevents FB.

Ruck Challenge

For the 12HR, 6HR, and 3HR Ruck events, there is no minimum weight requirement, though we encourage ruckers to carry 10–20 lbs. This can be in a vest, pack, or whatever you'd like to haul your weight in!
Rucking weight is self-reported by each participant — we do not weigh in at the event.
All ruckers will receive an Egress Endurance patch and a finisher's medal.

Event's current local time: 11:42 PM ET