MarlandFest Has No Starting Gun: How Victor's New Fred Burr Race Weekend Actually Works

"It's kind of an open race format," Katie Sykes told KPAX in September. "There's not a mass start. You can come throughout the weekend, log your time on Strava. We'll be tracking it."

That one choice shapes the whole first MarlandFest, set for Oct. 9 through 11 at The Property, 914 Fred Burr Road in Victor. The Saturday bike race and the Sunday trail run both run on the same 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. window, so no one lines up at a set time. The race starts whenever you do. The weekend's fixed times are all at the base of the hill: two Red Bull Rampage screenings, two kids' races, two awards ceremonies and one pizza feed. Plan around those and the race fits wherever you want it.

The clock you set versus the clock they set

The organizers put it plainly on the event page: "No mass start. No elbowing for position. Just you, your bike, the mountain, and the clock." Riders and runners start anytime in the window, record the effort on Strava, head up Fred Burr and come back down. Katie Sykes said there will be aid stations, and search and rescue will be out on the course. The event is also running with support from the Ravalli County Sheriff's Office.

Everything else runs on a schedule:

The Property HQ sits right off the main parking lot, so the screenings and awards happen a short walk from where people park and camp.

Why Saturday's 10 a.m. screening is the one to plan around

Red Bull Rampage is in Virgin, Utah, Oct. 8–10 this year. Red Bull has the men's competition and broadcast set for Saturday, Oct. 10, at 10 a.m. Mountain Time. That's the same hour as the men's screening at The Property HQ, so Saturday's watch party lines up with the live broadcast.

Sunday is different. Red Bull has the women's competition and broadcast on Thursday, Oct. 8, at 10 a.m. Mountain Time. The Property's women's screening is Sunday at 10 a.m., three days later. The event page doesn't call it a replay. By the calendar, though, anyone who follows the sport may already know the results by Sunday morning.

On Saturday, that makes the open race window useful. The screening starts two hours into the window, so a rider who wants to see the men's final can go up at 8 and try to be back by 10, or watch first and start late morning. The kids' bike race runs noon to 1 p.m., so a parent can work around that too. The course stays open until 4 p.m. either way, and awards are at 5:30.

The course

Both races use the same route, a 10-mile round trip from the Fred Burr Trailhead to Fred Burr Reservoir and back. On the trail run registration page, the organizers list about 900 feet of elevation gain.

The Forest Service lists Fred Burr Trail #38 as 10.8 miles in all. It starts at Road #733.1 and ends at Mill Creek Trail #364. The Fred Burr Trailhead leads to Trail #38, Fred Burr Reservoir, Fred Burr Lake and the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness, and the Bitterroot National Forest shows the site as open. Crews worked on the trail and a stretch of road May 6–8 this year. That's the most recent work the Forest Service has posted.

Racing isn't required. "If you're interested in just riding your bike and not doing the race, we have open trails that are going to be available to the public also," Arthur Sykes told KPAX.

The trails you can ride without racing

The Property's own trail network is still new. The Sykes family held the grand-opening weekend June 13–15, 2025, and called the site "a new home for adventure, community, and connection." Singletracks profiled it that August and laid out the history. Arthur Sykes moved from Nevada in 2016 to inherit 80 acres of his grandfather's land, which had sat mostly untouched for years, and started building trails on it.

At the time of that profile, the network had a little over three miles of singletrack and about 200 feet of elevation gain and loss:

• Mother Trail: the first trail built and the hub of the system. Singletracks called it the beginner-friendly option. It also gives neighbors easier access to an irrigation canal.
• Tom Shreddy: a natural singletrack off the top of Mother Trail, with switchbacks, a couple of small kickers and flowing corners.
• Nappy Chutes: a rocky, technical gravity trail somewhere between downhill and enduro.
• Dirt Church: a jump park with tabletops and doubles 16 to 20 feet long.

The kids' races on both days are held on The Property's own trails, not on Fred Burr.

Who the weekend is for

Marland Whaley's obituary calls him a five-time AMA Trials Champion, an endurance mountain biker and a builder and carpenter. His widow, Dawn Whaley, is the race director. On the event page she writes that she has lived in the Bitterroot Valley since she was 6 and grew up in Victor. "It means the world to me just to honor him," she told KPAX. "We just had many great memories in 19 years of marriage."

The event name came from Katie Sykes, Whaley said. The Property is giving all proceeds to the Marland Whaley Foundation, which aims to get bikes to Bitterroot veterans. Arthur Sykes is a Marine Corps veteran, a national champion mountain biker, a coach and a welder. Katie Sykes served in the Montana Army National Guard. "Biking really has saved my life," Arthur Sykes told KPAX.

Passes, camping and what to bring

Pricing is listed on The Property's MarlandFest page:

• Day pass, $25
• One night of camping plus viewing, $35
• Weekend viewing plus camping Friday and Saturday nights, $50
• Race entry plus weekend camping and screenings, $50
• Saturday pizza feed with pizza, salad and a drink, $15 per person, bought ahead of time
• Kids 17 and under, free

A race entry costs the same $50 as weekend camping without one, so anyone camping both nights pays no more to race.

Camping is primitive and off-grid. There are no hookups and no space for camper trailers or RVs. The site works best for tents, trucks with camper shells or truck-bed campers, and camper vans. There are outhouses but no running water, so bring your own drinking water. A concessions booth will sell snacks and drinks but not full meals, so the organizers ask overnight campers, and racers especially, to bring their own food.

The only fire allowed is the Saturday campfire at The Property's designated fire pit. Personal and campsite fires aren't allowed anywhere on the land. That's the venue's own rule. On the Forest, the Bitterroot National Forest's Sept. 7 release said, "There are no fire restrictions at this time." Ravalli County lets the Fire Warden close open burning on a day-by-day basis through Nov. 30, so check again before the weekend.

The event page also warns that cold nights, rain, wind and even snow are possible in October, so bring layers.

Sharing Fred Burr in archery season

Race weekend falls inside Montana's deer and elk archery season, which FWP lists as Sept. 5 through Oct. 18. The general deer and elk rifle season opens Oct. 24. The youth deer hunt runs the following Thursday and Friday, Oct. 15–16. With an open start window, racers will be spread across the Fred Burr route all day rather than bunched together, and the course runs into national forest where bowhunters may be out the same weekend. Bright layers make sense for the cold anyway.

Gates open Friday at 2 p.m., and both races close their windows at 4 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday.

The Property started as one family's 80 acres on Fred Burr Road, and now it's hosting races, camps and concerts. If you own land on the west side of the valley and wonder what it's worth, or what it could become, Wanda Sumner knows acreage from the ground up, including access, easements and how well and septic shape a parcel's options. Bitterroot Valley Properties is happy to walk the property with you. Get a Home Valuation whenever you're ready.

This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional about your situation.