FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Registration is open for the 2017 Great Bear Chase!

Registration is now open for the 37th annual UP Health System Portage Great Bear Chase. The race will take place on Saturday, March 11th, 2017 at the beautiful Swedetown Trails in Calumet, Michigan.

To register now, visit http://www.greatbearchase.com/registration/.

About the 2017 Great Bear Chase

The 2017 Great Bear Chase will feature seven races: 50 km Skiathlon, freestyle and classic 50 km, 25 km and 10 km races. Get an early bird discount by registering by December 31 and save money!  The entry fee is $65 for the 25 km and 50 km events and $30 for the 10 km races. These prices will jump on January 1, February 2 and March 6.

Temperatures will hopefully start to drop so that snow can arrive soon. While we patiently wait for a white blanket to cover our beautiful Swedetown Trails, our Great Bear Chase planning committee has been busy finalizing race details. Some highlights of this year’s race include:

• Return of the 50 km Skiathlon - the 50km Skiathlon features a combined competition of 25 km classic skiing followed by by 25 km freestyle skiing. The two lap course is perfect for one lap of striding and one lap of skating. The Great Bear Chase 50km Skiathlon is part of the CXC Marathon Cup.  

• Additional age groups added – we are pleased to announce that we’ve once again added age groups to the Great Bear Chase, which makes for 13 additional age groups over the past 2 years. That’s a whopping 321 age groups awards for male and female racers! To see a detailed breakdown of the age groups visit our race guide at http://www.greatbearchase.com/race-guide/.

• T-shirt swag – all participants will receive a cool 2017 Great Bear Chase dri-wicking t-shirt. Both men and women sizes will be available.

We hope to see you at the 37th annual Great Bear Chase on Saturday, March 11th, 2017!