Hancock's 38th annual Canal Run to be July 20

Jonathan Kilpela of Atlantic Mine crosses the finish line in Hancock to win the 2012 men's 10-mile run in less than an hour. (Keweenaw Now file photo)

HANCOCK -- The 38th annual Canal Run is July 20, 2013, and features a half marathon, five-mile run, 10-mile run, five-mile walk and 10-mile walk. The 10-mile walk will start at 7:15 a.m. at McLain State Park, half marathon at 7:30 a.m. at Koskela Road, 10-mile run at 8 a.m. at McLain State Park, 5-mile walk at 8:30 a.m. at High Point Road and 5-mile run at 8:45 a.m. at High Point Road.

The Canal Run follows the Portage Lake Shipping Canal along Highway M-203 in Hancock, Michigan. The race course is on a paved road surface. The road is not closed to traffic. Participants are requested to run along the side of the road.

Entry fees will increase Friday, June 19, so register now if you plan to participate. Last-minute registration will be from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m. Friday, July 19, at Finlandia Hall on Finlandia University's campus. Visit http://www.hancockcanalrun.com/ for all race details and registration.

Participants in the 2012 Canal Run register for the race near the Hancock Tori (farmers' market). (Keweenaw Now file photo)

A pre-race pasta dinner from the Keweenaw Co-op will be held from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. Friday, July 19, at Finlandia Hall on the Finlandia University campus.

The Canal Kid's Dash, free for all kids, will be Friday night at 5:30 p.m. in front of Finlandia Hall. It will include a 50-yard dash for children under seven and a 100-yard dash for children seven and up. All participants receive a Canal Kid's Dash finisher's medal!

On Saturday, shuttle service will be provided from the finish line at FirstMerit Bank (formerly Citizens Bank) to all start locations. Shuttles will leave approximately every 15 minutes beginning at 6 a.m. The last shuttle for each race will leave at the following times: 10-Mile Walk, 6:45 a.m.; 1/2 Marathon, 7 a.m.; 10-Mile Run, 7:30 a.m.; 5-Mile Walk, 8 a.m.; 5-Mile Run, 8:15 a.m.

Participants should plan on boarding the shuttle to their race about an hour before the race is scheduled to start.

The Canal Run began in 1975 and is the premier running and walking event in Michigan's Keweenaw Peninsula.

All five events finish in downtown Hancock between FirstMerit Bank (formerly Citizens Bank) and Quincy Green. The awards ceremony will begin around 10:30 a.m.

After the Canal Run head down to the Hancock waterfront near Porvoo Park for an art show and kid's three-on-three soccer tournament. On Sunday head to the waterfront for a volleyball tournament, the fifth annual Canal Swim and a ping pong tournament.

Click here for a Canal Run map.

Volunteers needed to pull invasive knapweed July 14, 18, 19

By Janet Marr, botanist

Janet Marr, left, and volunteers pull invasive knapweed from a hillside area near the breakwater at McLain State Park in July 2011. In the foreground, second from right, is Lee Verberkmoes, McLain State Park superintendent, who worked with Marr in securing funding from the UP Resource Conservation and Development Council for spotted knapweed mapping, control/removal, and restoration in this popular Lake Superior lakeshore park. (Keweenaw Now file photo)

CALUMET -- Volunteers are needed for the Second Annual Spotted Knapweed (SK) Pull anytime between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. TOMORROW, Saturday, July 14, at McLain State Park on the shores of beautiful Lake Superior.

Last summer a group of dedicated  SK pullers focused their removal efforts in one of McLain's low dune areas where SK is crowding out native species. This year we'll continue in the same spot and with persistence we are making a difference!

If you are interested in being a volunteer puller for an hour or two (or just want to observe techniques for removing this invasive species that you may be battling on your own property), please see details below and contact Janet Marr at  906-337-5529 or jkmarr@mtu.edu for more information. By the way, pulling knapweed out of the sands of McLain is sooooo easy compared to many other local sites with more compacted soils.

Spotted knapweed on the beach at McLain State Park. This invasive plant loves dry areas and must be pulled straight up to remove the roots. It also grows along roadsides all around the Keweenaw and spreads rapidly. (Photo © and courtesy Janet Marr)

 Location:  McLain State Park, half-way (more or less) between Calumet and Hancock on M-203; drive into park (tell folks at the park entrance that you're a knapweed pulling volunteer and you will not need to pay to enter the Park); hang a left and drive down to the end of the road (where the bathing beach is); park at the far end of the parking area to the left. It's only about a 1-2 minute walk to the pulling site. In case you're not able to get there right at 10 a.m. the area of the pull is to the left (west) of the swimming beach near the metal walls lining the canal.

Please bring:  garden gloves if you have a favorite pair (we'll have dollar store specials if you need a pair). Spotted knapweed has a substance that is an irritant and gloves, long sleeve shirts, and long pants should be worn. You might want to bring a hat/sunscreen, if it's a toasty/sunny day. Jumping in the Lake is always an option to cool off! By the way, the park store is now re-opened with Ice Cream....We'll have cold bottled water and goodies available free to pullers.

Tools:  We'll have an assortment of tools you may borrow (pulling works fine on many plants, but others will need a little nudge with a tool before pulling). Feel free to bring your favorite knapweed tackling tool as well. The smaller the blade the better (that'll help assure less disturbance to the ground and exposure of seeds from the seedbank).

PLEASE NOTE:  Spotted knapweed work days are also scheduled at Sand Point campground just north of Baraga on July 18 and 19 from 8 a.m. - 4 p.m.  People are welcome to pull for an hour or two. Contact Evelyn or Karen at 906-524-5757 ext. 11 or 23 for more information before July 18 and call Karen at 201-1808 on July 18 and 19.

Habitat restoration at Sand Point in Baraga. (Photo by Keweenaw Now)

Be sure to visit the 35 acres of habitat restoration at the Sand Point stamp sand brownfield site where stamp sand has been capped and covered with plantings of nearly 50 species of native grasses, herbs, shrubs, and trees benefiting a variety of wildlife.

If you know of someone (or someones) who may be interested in joining in the fun at McLain State Park and/or Sand Point, please let them know the details.

Time to register or volunteer for July 21, 2012, Canal Run

HANCOCK -- It's just about one month until the 37th Annual Canal Run! The event is set for Saturday, July 21. The long-standing tradition is held along the Portage Waterway on Highway M-203.

Both the 10-mile run and 10-mile walk start at McLain State Park and finish in downtown Hancock. The 5-mile run and 5-mile walk start on High Point Road, also finishing in downtown Hancock.

2011 Canal Run participants arrive at the Finish in Hancock. (Photos by Keweenaw Now)

There are great ways to be involved.

First, you can participate in one of the four events:
10-mile run, 10-mile walk, 5-mile run, 5-mile walk. Registration is only $25 if completed by July 14. All participants will receive a bamboo t-shirt.

Local, hand-crafted awards are given out for many age groups. Visit http://www.hancockcanalrun.com/ to register or to obtain more information.

After the 2011 Canal Run, participants gather at the Hancock Tori market tent for refreshments.

Second, you can volunteer. On Friday, July 20, and Saturday, July 21, volunteers are needed  at varying times.

Positions include Registration, Water Stops, Traffic Control, De-chippers, Back-up Timing and many more.

Visit http://www.hancockcanalrun.com/volunteer.php to fill out the form and the volunteer coordinator will respond to you with details.

This year, the Canal Run can also be found on Twitter, Facebook and Foursquare social media.

Updated: Volunteers help rid local beaches of invasive knapweed; presentation on invasives to be Sept. 29

By Michele Bourdieu

Botanist Janet Marr, left, helped McLain State Park with a project recently funded by the UP Resource Conservation and Development Council -- removing invasive spotted knapweed from areas of the Park in order to protect the beach from its spread. Here she is pictured with volunteers who helped collect these bags full of the invasive plant on July 30, 2011: from left, Marr; Jason Oyadomari, Finlandia University biology professor; Steve Albee of Hancock; Michigan Tech forestry student Alex Mehne; Chuck Mehne, Alex's Dad,visiting from Kalamazoo; and Lee Verberkmoes, McLain State Park superintendent. Marr will join Erik Lilleskov, research ecologist for the U.S. Forest Service, in a presentation on invasive species Thursday, Sept. 29, at Michigan Tech. Click on photos for larger versions. (Photos by Keweenaw Now unless otherwise indicated.)

HOUGHTON -- Janet Marr, contract botanist for the Houghton Keweenaw Conservation District, will join Erik Lilleskov, research ecologist for the U.S. Forest Service, in presenting "Invasive Species as Agents of Global Change," from 6:30 p.m. - 8:30 p.m., Thursday, Sept. 29, in Noblet 143 of Michigan Tech's Forestry building.

The presentation -- free and open to the public -- will offer the opportunity to

• Explore the global impact of altered ecosystems
• Find out about invasive species in the Copper Country
• Learn how to identify invasive plants of the Western U.P. which threaten the biodiversity of the Keweenaw.
• Discover how you can help control their spread and protect our native plants.
  

This event is sponsored by the Lake Superior Stewardship Initiative, Michigan Tech Center for Water and Society, Keweenaw Land Trust and the Keweenaw Unitarian Fellowship.

Photos: Pulling Knapweed at McLain State Park

Volunteers assist Botanist Janet Marr, center, in pulling invasive spotted knapweed at McLain State Park on July 30, 2011.

Janet Marr, left, and volunteers pull invasive knapweed from a hillside area near the breakwater at McLain State Park. In the foreground, second from right, is Lee Verberkmoes, McLain State Park superintendent, who worked with Marr in securing funding from the UP Resource Conservation and Development Council for spotted knapweed mapping, control/removal, and restoration in this popular Lake Superior lakeshore park.

Alex Mehne, left, Michigan Tech forestry student active in the Botany Club, invited his Dad, Chuck Mehne, who was visiting from Kalamazoo, to join the group of volunteers at the McLain State Park knapweed pull on July 30, 2011 -- a father-and-son shared effort for a Saturday morning in the Keweenaw! Alex also assisted Janet Marr with her garlic mustard removal campaigns in area neighborhoods this summer.

Steve Albee of Hancock helps Janet Marr carry a bag of knapweed up the hill to be disposed of by McLain State Park. Note protective gloves volunteers like Alex Mehne, at left, are wearing. "Spotted knapweed has a substance that is an irritant, and gloves, long sleeve shirts, and long pants should be worn," Marr advises.

Spotted knapweed on the beach at McLain State Park. This invasive plant loves dry areas and must be pulled straight up to remove the roots. It also grows along roadsides all around the Keweenaw and spreads rapidly. (Photo © and courtesy Janet Marr)

The restoration aspect of the McLain State Park knapweed removal project will include planting more of this protective dunegrass. (Photo © and courtesy Janet Marr)

Picnic and knapweed pull at Bete Grise Preserve

Members of the Houghton Keweenaw Conservation District and the Stewards of Bete Grise Preserve met for a knapweed pull, picnic and presentation by Janet Marr on Aug. 1, 2011, at the Bete Grise Preserve. They collected several bags full of the invasive plant, growing mostly along the Gay-Lac LaBelle Road. Pictured here, from left, are volunteers Evan McDonald, Chuck Brumleve, Gina Nicholas, Mark Klemp, Sue Haralson (in front of Mark), Anton Pintar, Paul and Anita Campbell, Joanne Thomas and Nick Wilson. The event was also sponsored by the Rapid Response Invasive Plant Intervention Team of the UP (RRIP-IT-UP) and organized by Sue Haralson, Houghton Keweenaw Conservation District administrator.

Gina Nicholas and Chuck Brumleve, both residents of Bete Grise, pull spotted knapweed plants along the Gay-Lac LaBelle Road at the Bete Grise Preserve.

After a potluck picnic at the Bete Grise Preserve beach, volunteers listen as Botanist Janet Marr demonstrates the best way to loosen the roots of invasive knapweed with a narrow tool. "The smaller the blade the better (that'll help assure less disturbance to the ground and exposure of seeds from the seedbank)," Marr explains. At far left is Cynthia McDonald (not pictured above), who also joined the group.

Janet Marr displays a sample of Centaurea (a relative of spotted knapweed) during her presentation at Bete Grise.

Despite the attractive flowers, this plant, Hypericum perforatum (commonly called St. John's wort), is also invasive.

Janet Marr displays some Hypochaeris radicata, also known as a false dandelion, or hairy cat's ear.

Learn more about these invasive plants and what you can do to help protect the ecology of the Keweenaw from their spread by attending the presentation by Janet Marr and Erik Lilleskov from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 29, in Noblet 143 of Michigan Tech's Forestry building.

Volunteers needed to pull knapweed at McLain State Park July 30

Spotted knapweed is an invasive plant that should be pulled before its seeds allow it to spread. Volunteers are needed to pull it at McLain State Park Saturday, July 30. (Photo by Keweenaw Now)*

By Janet Marr, botanist

HANCOCK -- McLain State Park needs your help in pulling spotted knapweed, the Copper Country's most "popular" invasive plant species! The Park recently received funding from the UP Resource Conservation and Development Council for spotted knapweed mapping, control/removal, and restoration in this popular Lake Superior lakeshore park. The mapping phase has been completed, and two areas have been set aside for volunteers to help in removal efforts.

You are invited to join a knapweed pull beginning at 9 a.m. on Saturday, July 30, at McLain State Park, near the bathing beach. Help as long as you care to stay.

The Park is part-way (more or less) between Calumet and Hancock on the lake side of M-203. Drive into the Park and tell folks at the park entrance that you're a knapweed- pulling volunteer and you will not need to pay to enter the Park); hang a left and drive down to the end of the road (where the bathing beach is); park at the far end of the parking area to the left. It's only about a one- or two-minute walk to the pulling site. In case you're not able to get there right at 9 a.m., the area to be pulled is to the left (west) of the swimming beach near the metal walls lining the canal.

Bring the following: garden gloves if you have a favorite pair (we'll have dollar store specials if you need a pair). Spotted knapweed has a substance that is an irritant so gloves, long-sleeve shirts, and long pants should be worn. You might want to bring water and a hat/sunscreen, if it's a toasty/sunny day. Jumping in the Lake is always an option to cool off!

By the way, pulling knapweed out of the sands of McLain is sooooo easy compared to many other local sites with more compacted soils. You won't be able to stop pulling!

Tools: we'll have an assortment of tools you may borrow (pulling works fine on many plants, but others will need a little nudge with a tool before pulling). Feel free to bring your favorite knapweed tackling tool as well. The smaller the blade the better (that'll help assure less disturbance to the ground and exposure of seeds from the seedbank).

If you know others who may be interested in joining in the fun, please let them know the details.

For more information call Janet Marr at 337-5529 or email her at jkmarr@mtu.edu.

*Click here for more photos of spotted knapweed.