When the Lake Cumberland Thunder Run in Kentucky opened registration in early March, organizers Julie and Dan Weiss and Justin Lucas held their collective breath. The July 10-11 event-dates are the latest in the history of the soon-to-be 18-year-old Lake Cumberland affair and they conflict with those of the Boyne Thunder Poker Run, which once again sold out general registration minutes after it opened.
The 18th annual Lake Cumberland Thunder Run is filling fast. Photo by Pete Boden copyright Shoot 2 Thrill Pix.
But Lake Cumberland is 600-plus miles from Boyne City, Mich., and not everyone has the time and gumption to make that haul. Lake Cumberland locals have a viable option on their home-water that weekend. Registration for the Thunder Run is on a brisk pace, and most sites in the local campgrounds have already sold out.
The organizers plan to make the 18th annual event the most memorable one yet.
“This year, thanks to our venture with Unlimited Marine we will be doing a Nor-Tech fun run/photo op to 76 Falls on Friday and then catching back up with everyone for lunch,” Julie Weiss said. “We will have our two new Stephen Miles Design-painted inventory boats there and have counted about another dozen 390s and possibly a couple stern-drive cats.”
The later dates also should translate to less debris in the lake than the typical mess that gets flushed from the surrounding forest during spring rainstorms.
“With less debris concerns this year we added a new stop to Burnside Marina,” Weiss said. “That marina is 37 miles from State Dock, so the added distance will give everyone some more time to stretch their legs a bit and also get more photo ops for the helicopter.
“On that same vein, this year we have Walt B. Filming doing photography as well as videography,” she added. “That is not something we’ve offered before.”