Ken Lupton wrapped up his Grand Prix Hydroplane outing in Tonawanda and dropped a hint he was considering the Top O' Michigan Marathon Nationals for "a bit of fun." That turned out to be something of an understatement. The HRL champion and 2025 series leader made his way to Indian River, swapped a thundering GP hull for a kneeler, and took on one of the most demanding and historic events on the outboard racing calendar.
The Top O' Michigan is a race built on tradition and sheer attrition. Organised by the Top O' Michigan Outboard Racing Club, known as TOMORC, continuously since 1949, it is widely regarded as the oldest and most prestigious outboard marathon in existence. Spread across two days, the event covers nearly 82 miles of Northern Michigan's rivers and lakes, demanding as much seamanship and stamina as raw speed.
The physical demands alone set this event apart from anything Lupton typically faces. Outboard marathon competitors race kneeling, absorbing hours of pounding waves and sharp turns without the strapped-in cockpit and roaring V8 he is accustomed to. Lupton took it all in good humour. With backing from Donny Allen, Dylan Runey, and fellow competitor Andrew Tate, he joined a field of 97 entries, fewer than half of whom would go on to finish across the two days. Crew chief Steve Preece and radio man Mike Monaghan kept him on track throughout, and while Lupton himself admitted he might be "a little sore" afterwards, finishing both races was no small achievement.
The courses are as punishing as they are picturesque. Saturday's 42-mile leg began at Burt Lake, swept down the Indian River, crossed Mullett Lake, and pushed up the Cheboygan River to a city turnaround before the entire route was retraced back to Devoe Beach. Sunday's 42-mile run crossed Burt Lake, wound through the Crooked River, looped around Crooked Lake, then returned via Burt and the Indian River to finish once more at Devoe Beach. Along the way, competitors contend with five-foot rollers, pleasure-boat wake, stump fields, and notorious corners including Devil's Elbow. Outright pace counts for little if a boat doesn't survive the distance.
The race's origins stretch back to 1949, when Ed Maloney of the Topinabee Hotel and Fred Hanscon of Gaylord conceived a marathon that would draw attention to the Inland Waterway. That inaugural event attracted 73 entries, of which only 45 made it to the finish. Seventy-seven years on, the spirit of the challenge is unchanged. As the club itself describes a win, it is "an act of defeating Mullett Lake, Devil's Elbow and Cheboygan stump fields on the second full weekend in August each year."
Lupton finished 23rd on Saturday and 25th on Sunday in the CSR class, results that sit some way outside what he has grown accustomed to. Completing the Top O' Michigan was the real measure of the effort, though, and in doing so the Waverley farmer and GP champion joined a select group of international competitors who have taken on this waterway and come out the other side. From the flat-water sprint of Tonawanda to the twisting rivers of Northern Michigan, Lupton showed the versatility and determination that have come to define his family's name in racing. For someone who genuinely relishes a challenge, kneeling through the spray of an 82-mile marathon was, it seems, exactly his idea of a good time.
