Trail festival coming to ‘Salt’ Ste. Marie

Organizers of a new summer event in Sault Ste. Marie are hoping to attract mountain biking enthusiasts from all over.

The Salty Marie Trails Festival is a celebration of the city's recreational trails, which tourism officials hope will help position the city as a mountain biking destination.

The festival is presented by a local cycling tour company, Red Pine Tours. As for the name of the event, it's a play on a common mispronunciation.

"We wanted something that was familiar to the area, but also had a bit of a comedic factor behind it," said Graham Atkinson, co-owner Red Pine Tours.

"Anybody that's spoken to anybody on the phone, or travelled, and the name 'Sault Ste. Marie' comes up, it's almost always mispronounced as 'Salt Ste. Marie.' So, we decided to play on that a little bit."

The festival features a series of cycling events – all with salty names. There's a 10K event called ‘The Low Sodium,’ a 25K race called ‘The Saline Short,’ and a 50K marathon called ‘The Big Brine.’ There's even a race for children, called ‘The Saltine Shred.’

Registration is now open on the event website.