It’s the opposite of a LeMans start where riders run to their bikes. In this case, you bike 0.5 miles to your run. Bring your own bike and helmet.
The Basics
Self-Supported Ethos
FAQ's
Trails
Local Shops
History
Results
The Basics
#blameDanny
This page covers who, what, when, where, and why. For a more complete and comprehensive overview of the event, rules, recommended gear, etc., please refer to the FAQ, or visit the Facebook group “Marji Gesick Talk.”
The first challenge for Marji is getting into Marji. The second challenge is finding all the necessary info, and then you have to finish it! Enjoy your Marji Gesick Experience.
-The Marji Gesick Customer Disservice Team
WELCOME TO DA MARJI
Why: You want to test yourself against what Jeremiah Bishop called “The hardest single-day race in America.” Some will chase a buckle. Most will try to finish.
Who: Everyone and their support crews
What: MG15, MG50, MG100, Worst of both Worlds, MG200*
When: September 20-22, 2024
Where: Start locations are as follows:
- MG100RUN: Friday, 8:00 am, Forestville Trailhead, County Road HT, Marquette, MI 49855
- MG100BIKE: Saturday, 7:30 am (includes Worst of Both Worlds), Forestville Trailhead, county road ht, Marquette, MI 49855
- MG50BIKE: Saturday, 8:00 am, Lower Harbor Ore Dock, City Multi-Use Path, Marquette, MI 49855
- MG50RUN: Saturday, 7:00 am, Lower Harbor Ore Dock, City Multi-Use Path, Marquette, MI 49855
- Mini-Marji: Saturday, 10:00 am, Jackson Miners Park, Negaunee @ West End of Main Street
- MG200 – TBD
Routes and Event start times: Routes get published the week of the event. Start times are as follows:
- MG100RUN: Friday, 8:00 am
- MG100BIKE: Saturday, 7:30 am (includes Worst of Both Worlds)
- MG50RUN: Saturday, 7:00 am
- MG50BIKE: Saturday, 8:00 am
- MINI-MARJI: Saturday, 10:00 am
- MG200 – TBD
Event Cut-offs: All events end Sunday morning at 8:30 am ET.
Timing company: https://www.superiortiming.com/
*MG200 runs once every 5-years.
Self-Supported Ethos
THE SELF-SUPPORTED STATEMENT
906AT productions are unlike most events you will sign up for. We do not hold your hand. We give you just enough information to point you in the right direction and leave it up to you to get all the details. We share a lot of content through the official Facebook pages, Facebook event groups, and the newsfeeds on our website. Stay connected. If the way we do stuff isn’t your thing, it’s ok. There are a lot of other events out there.
“You are on your own. No one is out there to save you. GPS is required. You must observe and obey the “rules of the road.” We do not sign the course. You should not approach wildlife. In an emergency, dial 911.”
906AT events will expose you to treacherous terrain, inclement weather, fatigue, hallucinations, and inherently dangerous activities. At some point, you will likely ride or push your bike through the night, swearing you’ll never do <insert event name> again. Don’t feel bad; this is normal.
Hype disclaimer: Right now, some people start rolling their eyes because they think some marketing department is trying to scare them. That’s not the case. This is not hype. If you don’t respect the inherent danger of the activity, it could kill you. However, with proper preparation and practice, you will learn how to survive and thrive, which is the goal.
Each event carries a recommended gear list. Find the lists. Make sure you have everything on them. Train with the gear. Learn how to use it. The last place you want to find out you don’t know how to start a fire is on the Peshekee Grade at six o’clock in the morning when it’s 33 degrees. It’s a mistake you might only get to make once.
Some ask, “Why do you make it so hard?” The world is full of people pushing easy things on you or hyping stuff up to be challenging, but that isn’t the case. Those folks are just trying to sell you a product. Our mission is to help you find your best version. That’s going to take work – Dedicated, consistent, hard work. We’re not selling you a product but offering you a path for continued personal improvement.
Now get ready, or don’t. It’s up to you.
FAQ's
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
The 100-mile bike and the duathlon event both begin with a .5 mile run.
Have a plan. Be prepared. Bring the right gear. Bring enough food.
Bring your drop bag to the race start line. Give it to race staff. They will move it to Jackson Park for you.
Out & Back racers can leave a drop bag at Forestville for Saturday morning.
Jackson Park is located at
199 Tobin ST
Negaunee, MI 49866
Your drop bags will be there.
It’s on the race courses at the following mileages:
100 mile events @roughly miles 65 and 85
50 mile events @roughly mile 15 and 35
Hopefully you have family or friends along.
The race does not operate aid stations or provide support. What someone else does or does not do is out of our control. If you show up expecting help from someone you are making a grave mistake.
Blame Todd or Blame Danny.
GPS is mandatory because no one can control what is going to happen to the signs we put up. With GPS, regardless of what the weather does to the course or other variables outside our control, you can still navigate and finish the race.
Superior Timing
You will be DQd. You are allowed to go back, but you will remain on the clock until you return with all tokens.
Undisclosed locations.
Yes, until August 1st.
Until August 1st
- Bike choice: choose what you are most comfortable and confident riding.
- Tire choice: something with side wall protection and some tread.
- Gps: Garmin units are the best and only units we can/will troubleshoot.
- Backup battery: external battery for your phone and garmin
- Appropriate charging cables for your phone and garmin
- Lights: bar mount, handlebar mount. Have backup lights available
- Tools: multi-tool, chain breaker, master link, tire lever, tubes, patches
- Hydration pack
- Food
- Water
- Change of clothes
- Rain shell
- Emergency blanket
- Cash or debit card
Does a Yooper live in da UP?
- 12-hours (100-mile bike)
- 22-hours (Duathlon)
- 28-hours (100-mile run)
- 30-hours (Out & Back)
Trails
THE MARJI SUPPORTS ’EM, AND SO SHOULD YOU
The Marji Gesick is a production of the 906 Adventure Team, a 501(c)3 Non-Profit. The organization is based in Marquette County and serves ten communities in three states offering youth Adventure Teams. Its mission is to empower kids through outdoor adventure to become the best versions of themselves.
906AT Productions, like Marji Gesick, give back to local trail-building organizations, including NTN, RAMBA, Munising Bay Trails Network, and Friends of Harlow.
A portion of your entry fees goes back into the trails on which we hold our events.
Local Shops
LOCAL BIKE SHOPS – THESE SHOPS SUPPORT US, AND YOU SHOULD SUPPORT THEM!
We’ve got some of the best bike shops in the country up here. How else can 5 different shops survive in a region of 33,000 people? When we break stuff (we do that a lot) or just need a beer and a place to hang, we go here. You should too. Make it a point to visit at least one of them every time you’re in our neck of the woods because we could not do any of this without their support.
These are the local shops that have pledged to financially support us, give ’em a visit!
West End Ski & Trail
101 S. Main St,
Ishpeming, 49849
906-204-2498
westendtrail.com
Down Wind Sports
514 N 3rd St
Marquette, MI 49855
Phone: (906) 226-7112
downwindsports.com
Sports Rack
315 W Washington St
Marquette, MI 49855
Phone: (906) 225-1766
sportsrackmqt.com
History
“As a person who finds significant meaning in the history of a place, digging deeper to see who Marji Gesick was, did more than connect me to place; it connected me to the people of now and the people of then. If the people of the now, the 906 Adventure Team, know that we all must crash and burn on our way to getting better, the people of tomorrow can pass that legacy on. This race proved to me what exists in a name, a legacy.”
ALEXANDERA HOUCHIN
It was established in 2015. The goals were simple: Create a 100-mile route connecting all major trailheads across Marquette County. Make it uphill from start to finish, and hard as hell. Give a buckle to anyone who can do it in 12 hours or less. Simple.
We looked back through local history for an event or person that might inspire a name for the event. Marji Gesick kept coming up in our review of historical documents around the discovery of iron ore in the region. So we dug in and, in doing so, unraveled a fascinating story of a man and time in the history of our community. As Alexandera points out in her 2020 Radavist article about da Marji, information wasn’t easy to find. What we found cited Marji Gesick differently, as either Matji-gigig (Bad Day) or Man-je-ki-jik (Moving Day). Given our intent to make the event “hard as hell,” the translation of Matji-gigig as “bad day” was attention-catching. A Google search revealed: The name Ishpeming comes from the Ojibwe word Ishpiming, meaning “above,” “in the air,” or “on high.” We looked up “Ishpiming” in the Ojibwe People’s Dictionary and found “in the sky, above, in heaven.”.
After a couple of visits to the Iron Industry Museum and conversations with people in the community, we uncovered the biggest surprise: No one knew about Marji Gesick or the role he played in local history. Few people knew of his connection to Charlotte Kawbawgam or her profound impact on Native American rights. This discovery was the impetus for naming the event “Marji Gesick.”
As awareness of the event has grown nationally and internationally, so has the story of Marji Gesick, the man, and his life. We invite you to do what we did years ago, dig into the history-rich story, and help us ensure it’s never forgotten.
Results
WELCOME TO A LONG LIST OF DNF
You might want to go ahead and bookmark this page, especially if this is your first Marji Gesick (LOL #freshmeat).
Yes. These times are accurate.
Yes, we really did have a 70% DNF rate in 2017.
Yes. We have had people with grit and determination that have taken almost 27 hours to complete the 100-mile bike event.
