Queen City Trail Series - Copper Division | Houghton, MI, United States

About the Event

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!

Races Offered

Copper Division Race 1 - The Beginning

May 28, 2026

straighten

Distance — 5K

terrain

Type — Running

timer

18:00

sell

$0.00

Copper Division Race 2 - The Lactic Acid Trip

Jun 18, 2026

straighten

Distance — 6K

terrain

Type — Running

timer

18:00

sell

$0.00

Copper Division Race 3 - The Long Run

Jul 09, 2026

straighten

Distance — 8K

terrain

Type — Running

timer

18:00

sell

$0.00

Copper Division Race 4 - The Hill Climb

Aug 06, 2026

straighten

Distance — 3 Miles

terrain

Type — Running

timer

18:00

sell

$0.00

Copper Division Race 5 - The Ripper

Sep 17, 2026

straighten

Distance — 6K

terrain

Type — Running

timer

18:00

sell

$0.00

Trail Series Championship

Oct 10, 2026

straighten

Distance — 10K

terrain

Type — Running

timer

17:00

sell

$0.00

Weather Overview

These values represent the 3-year monthly averages for May in Houghton.

Temp (°C)

Feels Like (°C)

thermostat 5.9° / 17.9°

wb_sunny 2.1° / 14.5°

Wind (km/h)

Humidity (%)

air 12.4 /

water_drop 66.8%

Temp (°C)

Feels Like (°C)

Wind (km/h)

Humidity (%)

thermostat 5.9° / 17.9°

wb_sunny 2.1° / 14.5°

air 12.4 km/h

water_drop 66.8%

About Houghton

Learn more about the host city, Houghton.

Houghton is the largest city in and the county seat of Houghton County in the U.S. state of Michigan. Located on the Keweenaw Peninsula, Houghton is the largest city in the Copper Country region. It is the fifth-largest city in the Upper Peninsula, with a population of 8,386 at the 2020 United States census. Houghton is the principal city of the Houghton micropolitan area, which includes all of Houghton and Keweenaw counties. Houghton lies upon the Keweenaw Waterway, a partly natural, partly artificial waterway connecting at both ends to Lake Superior. Across the waterway from Houghton lies the city of Hancock.