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 the 2026 Ultra Bird Trail Races & RUCK Challenge, a fall endurance event featuring trail running and rucking challenges—all benefiting the Egress Endurance Project. Designed to test grit, resilience, and purpose, Ultra Bird brings athletes together for a full day on the trails in support of recovery, community, and transformation through movement.

Race & Challenge Options

🏃 Trail Running Events

12-Hour Trail Race – Run as many miles as you can within the time limit

6-Hour Trail Race – A true endurance test on scenic singletrack

10K Trail Race – Fast, challenging, and fun fall trail racing

5K Trail Race – A strong effort on beautiful wooded terrain

🎒 RUCK Challenge Events

6-Hour RUCK Challenge – Participants must carry a minimum 20-lb ruck or weighted vest

3-Hour RUCK Challenge – A shorter but demanding weighted endurance effort

The Course

All events take place on a ~5K loop at Pigeon Creek County Park, featuring rolling terrain, wooded trails, and peak fall color. The looped course allows for frequent aid-station access, crew support, and spectator engagement throughout the day.

Why We Run & Ruck

Every step taken at Ultra Bird directly supports the Egress Endurance Project, a nonprofit dedicated to empowering individuals battling addiction through outdoor movement, structured endurance challenges, and meaningful community. This event exists to prove that endurance—both physical and personal—can be a powerful tool for change.

Event Features

Fully stocked aid station for timed events

Finisher medals for all participants

Egress Endurance patches and event swag

Optional event apparel

Supportive, mission-driven atmosphere

Whether you’re chasing miles, pushing through the hours, or carrying weight with purpose, Ultra Bird is more than a race—it’s a statement of perseverance, hope, and forward motion.

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.

There are many hotels and great places to stay within a 10-mile radius in beautiful Holland, MI!

Pacers

Pacers ARE allowed for the 12 and 6 hour events!

12 & 6 Hour Rules

12 HR race starts at 8:00am
6 HR race starts at 8:00am

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.

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.

Event's current local time: 4:26 AM ET