Let’s play outside! Welcome to the Bordulac Attack Adventure Series in the heart of Northern Michigan's Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. With six fun segments to tackle by yourself, as a team, or with your kids, your outdoor fun awaits you! Hike, run, swim, bike, paddle and climb! Do all six segments or do just one, your pick.
You decide when it’s time to attack!
Choose when to do a segment, whether alone, with a partner, or with your entire crew. Wait until there’s no wind and the sun is out to do your paddle, get up early to ride the bike, or wait until sunset for your dune climb. Is it raining? No worries, wait until tomorrow for the run segment.
Our six events are done independently using the Strava mobile app. You decide the times and dates you attack one or more of our six segments. The series is open from June 1 to October 31.
New for 2025!
Compete or Complete
This year, we have created two different paths for those who want to participate in the Bordulac Attack. One path is for racers who wish to compete for the fastest time on each segment, and the other is for those who want to enjoy the scenery along the way, take pictures, and are out only to complete the event. You decide if you want to be competitive or not. For many of us, completing the event is the goal; how fast we do it doesn’t matter. For the competitive athletes out there, we have our scoreboard ready!
Both options earn you a cool UV-protected race decal of the event segment you finished. Collect all six (seven if you do both bike options) and become a Glen Lake Original Gangster!
Keep scrolling down to see descriptions of each segment.
2. Bordulacky Attacky
Family Version/Kid’s Race
That’s right. We are debuting a new event for kids and/or the whole family: the Bordulacky Attacky. It’s a simplified and shorter course for families and kids under 14. Like the Bordulac Attack, participants can compete and go for time or complete and accomplish the event.
Both options earn you a cool UV-protected race decal of the event segment you finished. Collect all six (seven if you do both bike options) and become a Glen Lake Original Gangster!
Bordulac Attack
Series Segments
1. Gator Hike
The first segment of the Bordulac Attack! This 2.65 mile trail run/hike will take you up and down hills on old logging roads and trails to the Glen Lake and Lake Michigan Scenic Overlooks on Alligator Hill—one of the most beautiful hikes in Leelanau County.
This hike will take you from bench to bench, overlooking two beautiful bodies of water in Northern Michigan. Lots of fun terrain on this route! Enjoy the scenery and grab a wild blackberry along the trail!
2. Crystal Paddle
The second segment starts at the Trail Head of the Crystal River on S Dunns Farm & Fisher Rd. You will paddle a kayak, SUP, or canoe solo down the river to the first portage. There, you will make the portage unassisted and proceed to the second leg of the Crystal River. Continue through the third portage until you reach the sign where you get out at the Crystal River Outfitters in Glen Arbor.
This event is stunningly gorgeous yet challenging. You have to navigate sandbars and branches, portage your gear, and interact with other sightseeing paddlers, who may or may not be moving very quickly at various points along the river. Hot tip: STAY IN YOUR BOAT!
3. Solo Swim
Event three is the only segment of the Bordulac Attack where you can choose the location you compete in. Home turf advantage all day!
All that matters is that you log a 0.5 mile (805 meters) swim SOMEWHERE in Leelanau County on your Strava app and email us a screenshot at bordulacattack@gmail.com.
We want everyone to be safe, and open-water swimming has inherent risks. Be smart. Have someone paddle alongside you in a kayak, and race with an inflatable swim buoy. Good choices win races and allow us to compete again tomorrow.
4. Heritage Hustle
The fourth segment begins as you stand beside the Sleeping Bear Heritage Trail sign on S. Forest Haven Dr. in Glen Arbor. Follow the beautiful twists and turns of the scenic route until you come to the stop sign at the intersection of the Heritage Trail and W. Harbor Highway (M-109). Turn around and return to where you started for a 2.59-mile out-and-back run! This race segment is an ideal flat course for our 3-miler specialists. Don’t be surprised if you see some wild turkeys and a deer or two along the way.
Check out all the fallen trees and giant roots that bear witness to the Great Storm of 2015!
5. Bear of a Bike
This one’s a doozy. Ready for a 27.4 mile biking challenge? Segment number five will take you on a bike ride around Big and Little Glen past D.H. Day Farm and through the Pierce Stocking Scenic Drive loop at Sleeping Bear Dunes. It is epic. Best scenic ride in Leelanau County!
Enjoy the gorgeous scenery as you struggle to maintain momentum on the uphills. Try not to succumb to the death wobble on the descents! This route is as stunning as it is brutal.
5a. Palmer Pedal
If off-road is where you like to ride, check out the Palmer Pedal. Mountain bikers, this one is for you! Complete this race segment as an option to the Bear of a Bike. Located at the epic Palmer Woods Forest Reserve, this 4.63-mile loop will take you through some twists and turns on fun terrain in the beautiful north woods.
This season, we are using the Ursa Minor and Ursa Major trails as our routes for the Palmer Pedal. Complete the Ursa Minor loop first, then stay on your bike and pedal over to Ursa Major to complete the loop. Keep your eyes on the direction of travel trail signs!
6. Dune Climb
Last but not least, segment six, the Dune Climb. You begin this assault on Sleeping Bear as you stand next to the warning sign (and it’s there for a reason) at the Lake Michigan Overlook on Pierce Stocking Scenic Dr. As soon as you take your first step down the dune towards Lake Michigan, you are on the clock. Walk, run, jump, or roll your way to the bottom, then turn around and scamper back up to the top of the dune any way you can.
Some run, some walk, some bear crawl. This final segment will test your mettle. Foot wimps, beware. Crying is allowed.
OG • BOSS • CREW
Join the ranks and claim your title.
The mark of a Bordulac Attack OG.
Original Gangsters
Enter today, and you have from June 1 until Halloween to complete all six segments. If you don’t want to complete all six or have enough time to get them in, just do what you can. Perhaps swimming is not your jam, but you love to bike. You don’t have to complete all six events. Be a segment winner and claim the crown for that event, or create a team and share the work and the fun!
The Bordulac Attack will have individual Segment Winners and one overall Grand Champion the racer with the fastest combined time from all six events.
Winners will be announced on November 1 and be ranked by age and gender classification.
Complete all six segments on or before October 31, and you will be named a Bordulac Attack Original Gangster!
Official Mark of a Bordulac Attack Boss - You get bear caws!
Bosses
Most of us mere mortals will spread the races out over our entire vacation or return in a few weeks and grind out another stage. But for some, the taste of competition and the quest for glory demands an even stiffer challenge. For those of you seeking the ultimate in Bordulac Attack glory, we have created the title of Bordulac Attack Boss.
A Bordulac Attack Boss is a next-level athlete with an intense pain threshold on a vision quest of self-inflicted torture.
To earn the elite status of Boss, an individual must complete ALL SIX segments in 24 hours!
Do so, and you’ll earn your bear claws in recognition of your savage attack!
Official mark of a Bordulac Attack Crew Member
Crews
Register as a team and drop the hammer with your crew.
Not sure you have what it takes to be an OG? Maybe doing all six segments does not appeal. Are you a swimming specialist with a best friend who’s a sick bike racer that’s got a cousin who can fly up a sand dune? Register as a team! Rally your crew and divide the work.
Crews can be made up of two, three, or six people.
2-person team – each team member completes three stage races.
3-person team – each team member completes two stage races.
6-person team – each team member completes one stage race.
Is your crew a family with kids under the age of 14?
Check out the Bordulacky Attacky. It’s a scaled-down, simpler version of the Bordulac Attack that younger kids or entire families can tackle together.
All the same race rules and requirements apply to teams as they do to individual racers. Each team member must register individually and record their own race times on their mobile Strava app.
Rules to Live by:
Attackers have from June 1 until October 31 to test and retest one or more of the six Bordulac Attack segments if they are in it to win it. That’s right; it’s not one-and-done (unless you want it to be); you can re-race and reclaim your spot on the leaderboard.
Segment times for Competitive Racers only will be posted on our website for all to see and try to beat. If you see that someone has beaten you on a segment, you can rerace that segment and reclaim the lead.
Each racer MUST record their own time on their own Strava mobile app. To see the leaderboard on Strava, you will need a subscription to the app. We will post current and official rankings and segment leaders on our website.
Our website leaderboard is official. Bootleggers who don’t register for the race may use our segments and appear on the Strava app leaderboard. They are not counted in our official Bordulac Attack results. Only those who register on our website are officially entered and will have their race results counted.
The series ends on Halloween, Oct 31. That is when the course closes.
No posted times are safe or solid until Nov 1, when winners are announced.
Individuals must complete all six segments to earn the title of OG.
Individuals must complete all six segments in 24 hours to earn the elite status of BOSS.
Teams cannot earn OG or Boss status. Those titles are for individual racers only.
Read all the segment rules & info on how to use the Strava app HERE.
Sign me up now! I want in on this madness.
Join our Training Club
on Strava!
Adventure racers, we’ve got a training club on Strava where you can connect with other athletes who are hiking, climbing, biking, running, swimming, and paddling. Join us for motivation and camaraderie in the great outdoors. Going solo is great, but who doesn’t like a friend? See what other racers are up to!
“Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well-preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside in a cloud of smoke, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming ‘Wow! What a Ride!’”
— Hunter S. Thompson