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Frankenmuth News

Serving Frankenmuth since 1906

Volume 120 ~ No. 30

January 28, 2026

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WINTERLAUFE 2026 . . . is around the corner for the Frankenmuth Jaycees. The 8K road race is set for Saturday, February 7, with the event beginning and ending on Gunzenhausen Street. Above, Winterlaufe Chair, Doyle Webb and Co-Chair, Jeremy Mossner, show off some of the race award chiller mugs and medals. 

(News photo/Scott Wenzel)

              Lace up, layer up for the 18th annual Winterlaufe

  Lace up and layer up as the Frankenmuth Jaycees prepare to host the 17^th annual Winterlaufe 8K run and walk next month.

  The event will begin at 10am Saturday, February 7, starting and ending on Gunzenhausen Street along the scenic Cass River.

  Jaycees Doyle Webb and Jeremy Mossner are chair and co-chair of Winterlaufe, which is the younger sister road race to the Volkslaufe, held on Fourth of July for the past 50 years. This road race is the one of the first to kick off the racing year.

  As of press time, over 430 persons have registered for this event, with well over 500 hitting the snow-lined course in 2025. The goal is to reach 600 runners and walkers, however, Webb and Mossner know this is a very weather-dependent race, with many waiting to see the forecast before tackling the course.

  The 8K course is a good blend of suburban and rural. Jon Geno’s cannon will start the 10am run on Gunzenhausen Street, just east of the Cass River’s rock ramp and west of Zehnder’s of Frankenmuth. At 10:05am, the walk will commence. Suzanne LeSieur returns to sing the National Anthem, followed by an invocation. Evan Howard and son Calvin will pilot the Schaefer & Bierlein pace vehicle.

  The course travels north on Gunzenhausen Street, then turns west on West Tuscola Road, negotiating a few curves and some hills as it approaches St. Lorenz Lutheran Church and crosses Dehmel Road, to head into Frankenmuth Township.

  The course remains fairly straight with more hills, and the heads south on the gravel-surface Beyer Road, crossing the Cass River on the former Gugel Bridge (today known as the Beyer Road Bridge) at the Cass River. The course continues south to a point where it turns around and travels back north, re-crossing the 1904 iron trestle span.

  The course retraces its way east on West Tuscola Road, then south on Gunzenhausen Street to the finish line. The awards ceremony follows the races.

  The Jaycees, along with help from the Frankenmuth City DPW, clear and salt the roadways to make it safer for the participants, in the event of inclement weather. There is also assistance from Reinert & Bender Auto Repair and Towing with playing in the event of Friday evening or early Saturday morning snowfall. MDOT also chips in.

  The Beyer Road Bridge requires a crew to clear the deck by hand, and with John Daugharty’s “rental” snow blower. A special ice melt is applied on the deck, to preserve the wood.

  “The Frankenmuth Police are also volunteering a few officers and patrol cars to direct traffic at key intersections, and over 30 other volunteers from the community have stepped up to help with directing traffic and registering participants,” Webb said.

  Participants may pick up their information packet and other items the day before the race as the Bavarian Inn Restaurant is the registration headquarters. Early gear pickup is 5-7pm Friday, February 6, and will open again from 8am to 9:45am Saturday, February 7 (race day) for packet pickup or late registration. The Inn also serves as the awards ceremony site......

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