ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

Beargrease rerouted for 2019 race

The longest sled dog race in the Lower 48 will end in Grand Portage instead of the outskirts of Duluth next year, organizers announced Friday. The 2019 John Beargrease Sled Dog Marathon will start at Billy's Bar in Rice Lake and end at Grand Port...

Ryan Redington, who finished second in last year's John Beargrease Sled Dog Marathon, gives a thumbs-up to fans at the start of the race Sunday. Steve Kuchera / skuchera@duluthnews.com
Ryan Redington gives a thumb's up to fans at the start of the 2018 John Beargrease Sled Dog Marathon in Two Harbors. The 2019 race will start at Billy’s Bar in Rice Lake and end at Grand Portage Lodge and Casino with a shortened distance of 300 miles. (2018 file / News Tribune)

The longest sled dog race in the Lower 48 will end in Grand Portage instead of the outskirts of Duluth next year, organizers announced Friday.

The 2019 John Beargrease Sled Dog Marathon will start at Billy’s Bar in Rice Lake and end at Grand Portage Lodge and Casino with a shortened distance of 300 miles.

In years past, teams started near Two Harbors, ran to Grand Portage and then raced back down to the finish line at Billy’s on Tischer Road; the 2018 course was 373 miles.

The mandatory number of dogs will drop from 14 to 12 as well.

“The reality is that mushers are signing up for shorter races that they can run fewer dogs in, especially earlier in the mushing season,” Beargrease board member Frank Moe said in a news release.

ADVERTISEMENT

The decision to shorten the race for its 35th year was announced this spring following a debriefing with the mushers who participated this year - four out of 10 of whom did not finish.

“It’s always hard to make a decision that changes the race to this magnitude,” Beargrease spokeswoman Monica Hendrickson said Friday. “But if we don’t align our organization with the goals of our teams, we don’t have a race.”

The full marathon, the mid-distance 120-mile race and the recreational 40-miler will start Jan. 27, a Sunday. The marathon is expected to end Jan. 29.

Hendrickson told the News Tribune there has been increased interest in mid-distance racing, and a shorter marathon could draw more mushers.

“We think there are some mid-distance teams that will step up and do the marathon,” she said.

The full route has not yet been finalized, Hendrickson said. Mushers could see extra miles along the Gunflint Trail or outside Grand Portage.

“We’re still working out a few details on that,” she said. “It’s going to be a little bit different.”

If there is not enough snow to start in Rice Lake, the race will begin at the gravel pit near Two Harbors as it had in recent years.

ADVERTISEMENT

The shortened race is still being dubbed the longest in the contiguous U.S.

Race organizers are holding a Beer & Bacon Bash fundraiser from 3-7 p.m. Saturday at the Proctor Fairgrounds.

“It costs our organization a minimum of $250,000 per year in cash and in-kind donations to make this race a reality,” Hendrickson said.

Tickets are $25 online and $30 at the gate; find out more at www.beargrease.com .

Brooks Johnson was an enterprise/investigative reporter and business columnist at the Duluth News Tribune from 2016 to 2019.

ADVERTISEMENT

What To Read Next
Get Local

ADVERTISEMENT