The Bell’s Iceman Cometh Mountain Bike Challenge is under new management.

The Festival Foundation - the nonprofit entity that manages the National Cherry Festival, Leapin’ Leprechaun 5k, and CherryT Ball Drop - is formally taking over management of the race, representatives from both groups announced Tuesday. According to Steve “Iceman” Brown, Iceman event director, the Festival Foundation has provided volunteers and operational support to the race for years and says "transitioning to using them as formal event management won’t really be a large change for us at all."

"They’ve already been putting in the hours behind the scenes," Brown says. "We chose the Festival Foundation to keep the event managed locally and ensure its future as part of the Traverse City community."

According to Kat Paye, executive director of the Festival Foundation, Brown's "vision of the race will remain the same. This has always been a local endurance race, and we want to keep it that way." Paye adds that as part of the restructuring, Iceman will become a nonprofit and have "a greater focus on community giving" going forward.

The 30th Annual Bell’s Iceman Cometh Challenge is scheduled to take place on November 2, 2019.