The Midnight Run

Download the Midnight Run trail map

The mandatory layover time in Chatham is five and one-half (5.5) hours, plus the start differential.

The Midnight Run start time is 30 minutes after the last UP200 musher leaves the chute, but not before 8:30pm.  This helps facilitate the downtown Marquette start while maintaining the overall race schedule.

2023 Midnight Run Prizes

1st Place $3,200
2nd Place $2,700
3rd Place $2,200
4th Place $1,700
5th Place $1,250
6th Place $900
7th Place $600
8th Place $450
9th Place $400
10th Place $330
11th Place $300
12th Place $285
13th Place $260
14th Place $225
15th Place $200

The Midnight Run is an eight-dog, 82 mile race. This race is typically faster than the UP200. Midnight Run mushers will start in downtown Marquette traveling to Chatham and then return along the same trail, finishing at Ojibwa Casino on M-28 east of Harvey. The Midnight Run draws some of the finest eight-dog teams in the region and the competition is fierce!

The Midnight Run trail crew has modified the trail where the Midnight Run teams split from the UP200 trail to head to Chatham. Trail distance from Marquette to Chatham is 46 miles. The return distance to the finish at Ojibwa Casino is 36 miles.

The Midnight Run teams will begin to leave the chute from downtown Marquette thirty minutes after the last UP200 team, but not before 8:30 pm.  Mushers travel to the Chatham checkpoint (Michigan State University Experimental Farm) where they complete a mandatory 5-1/2 hour layover period. They leave Chatham starting about 5:30 AM. Teams finish on Saturday morning with the first teams arriving about 8:30 or 9:00 am.