ABOUT US

The Ignite Trail Series was founded and nurtured by a small group of ultra distance runners to promote and give back to Chain O’Lakes State Park in Albion, Indiana.  Chain O’Lakes was/is home to the trails they trained on and they thought a series of races would be a good way to show their appreciation of the park.  

This small group had a big plan. They wanted to put on the first 100 mile trail race in Indiana.  In April of 2013, the inaugural Indiana Trail 100 was held.  To accompany the 100 mile race, a 50 mile option was also available, and so the Indiana Trail was realized and was turned into a world class event.

The format would remain the same until 2017 when a 100K distance was added into the mix of race distances.  In 2018, the race was moved to October. New for 2022, the 100k distance has been replaced with a 75 mile race.

Over the years, with the hard work and dedication of other local ultra runners, the Ignite Trail Series has helped add 10-12 miles of new trail to the parks trail system.  Along with this, all the proceeds from the race go directly back to Chain O’Lakes.  To date, the Ignite Trail Series has purchased several new pieces of equipment to help the park including mowers, tractors, skid loaders, and ATV’s to make trails more accessible for workers.  

All of us with the Ignite Trail Series would not be where we are without the wonderful volunteers who have worked tirelessly doing trail maintenance, working aid stations for 30 hours straight, helping setup for our events, and tearing down after our events.  WE OWE YOU A VERY BIG THANK YOU!

The Glacial Esker 6-12-24 Hour Race will be held the last full weekend in April each year. The Ignite Trail Half & Full Marathon will be held the middle of December each year.