The John Beargrease Marathon

The John Beargrease ‘marathon’ is one of the older and better known mushing races in the lower 48.  It’s been an annual event since 1980 which means it is just a bit younger than the iconic Iditarod (first run in 1973).  The famous—or maybe infamous!—Yukon Quest is actually younger, first run in 1984.  There are actually three races, the main “marathon” close to 300 miles, a 120 miler and a 40 miler, run in one day. The big one is a qualifier for the Iditarod and many names well known in Alaskan racing circles do come down to participate in this notable event and others use the Beargrease to prep or qualify for their rookie run at the Iditarod. .

The race honors John Beargrease, a Native American of the  Anishinaabe tribe although also said to be of the Ojiba and the Chippawa tribes. This needs more research to unravel which I will attempt shortly. At any rate, he was born in 1858 and became a mail carrier, using a boat and dog sled to make his deliveries. Thus a sled dog race in his honor is a very logical and appropriate event. That this race is now part of the developing "world series of mushing," is one indication of how significant and how well regarded it is.

This year, the race started on the 26^th of January—today as I write this—and will finish probably late Tuesday.  It is being tracked with regular updates at checkpoints and there is plenty of coverage if one knows where to look. I am delighted to see more and more of the mid-distance races are being given national coverage, active video recording and gathering a world-wide following that uses every bit of modern technology to further their fandom. 

A relatively small cohort of mushers and their fourteen dog teams took to the trail, just fourteen. However, several names would be familiar to folks who have mainly followed only Alaskan or in the case of the Quest, Alaskan/Canadian races.   Here is the complete list and bios on all this year’s competitors. https://beargrease.com/meet-the-mushers/  It is pretty 'wow' and even the 120 mile race includes many recognizable names. 

As for  me I am rooting for the women, of course, especially Jennifer Freking, Laura Neese, J. Foucher—a Facebook friend, and then Ryan Redington.  We’ll see who crosses the finish line first Tuesday evening and may the best team win!!

This time of year there is a race or even two just about every weekend and you can be busy indeed if you try to keep up with all of them.  I do--and also don't--quite. I have my favorites, both races and mushers, and check to see who is racing where and focus on them while giving others a more cursory watch. Fortunately I have a number of Facebook friends and others who are happy to share our mutual passion so I can almost always find out quickly what is going on everywhere dogs are tracking the snow.  Mush on!!

Kuskokwim 300 2020

As one of my heroes, Lance Mackey, so famously said, "It's a dog race, anything can happen." In this year's Kusko, this past weekend, that certainly applied!!

The Kusko--actually three races, the Akiak Dash, the 150 miler and the 300 miler--is often very cold and blizzardy being closer to the coast and incoming weather events. This year the CB300 was worse, though it is seldom balmy either. The Kusko had been postponed a couple of weeks due to weather but this time i was all right.

Anyway, twenty one mushers made the race. There were no scratches which is kind of rare, really. Two women entered and finished, Paige Drobney and Joanna Jagow. Both were rookies on this near legendary race and both ran well, finishing in the 13th and 14th places, coming in almost together. Two other mushers came directly from the CB300 to the Kusko, the winner and second place finisher from the former, Nic Petit and Matt Failer. Their results here were very different.

Matt admittedly used most if not all different dogs and I think that helped him to finish second, close behind Pete Kaiser, who won this one, his fifth win in the Kusko! Matt won this one last year but Pete is the reigning Iditarod Champ and one heck of a dog man.  It runs on the family. His father has won the Kusko and this year managed a very close second in the K150. It was almost a family affair in the winner's box!

Nic, however, was well back in the pack,. So, if you will entertain an armchair musher's thoughts, I will share a question and concern. I've not yet found whether Nic raced a new team in the Kusko or not but I suspect some if not all his dogs had just run the CB300 in some harsh cold and difficult conditions. It sounded that way as he flew them all right on over to Bethel. Were they not quite up to par? We  may never know. I am a booster of Nic's but have to allow that he does err in judgment at times and maybe push too hard. I do not question his love for and care of his dogs but like some doting parents may overdo his enthusiasm to see them excel. I hope they now rest well before taking on the I'rod come March. Not sure what his schedule is except the YQ races are not on it at last reading.

A cute little aside, as Matt F finished his check in at the finish, he approached partner and handler Liz Raines, pulled a small box out of a parka pocket and opened it to reveal a diamond flash! She is either a great actress or was truly surprised, almost blown away. Hand to her face she nodded and stammered her acceptance! That was a sweet bit of business and I am sure most watchers were thrilled. Who can resist a good romance and happy ending event? Surely not me!!

The next weekend's big race is the John Beargrease, one of the staged type I believe, and one of the few well known, long running major races in the Lower 48. There are always some Alaska mushers and it usually gets quite a bit of coverage. I'm sure there will be video and tracking. Maybe I can get links for that before the start.

One last note on the Kusko. Lance Mackey and Jeff King were entered as was Iditarod tradition Jim Lanier with his Siberians. Jeff finished along with Nic and a few others in the mid-pack. Jim  I think was 3rd from last and guess who got his first Red Lantern!! Lance did not push; perhaps he had that in mind all along. He is so quirky, it is possible! He'd never won the Kusko; nor had Jim but Jeff has about ten times, all some years in the past. Anyway I will try to catch the video of the awards tonight and see what Lance says. I expect I will both laugh and tear up. That is one absolutely amazing guy!

I share one photo--not mine--to illustrate. Joanne Potts had been the secretary and virtual soul of the Iditarod Headquarters for many years. The new officers abolished her position this past year. Many mushers and fans protested but without success. Before the planned celebration in her honor was finalized, her husband passed away. She insisted since a lot of work had been involved that her 'going away party' continue and it did. One in attendance was Lance and this touching shot portrays his sympathy and caring as he spoke to her. Joanne was "Mom" to so many in the Iditarod community; she is sorely missed and her treatment left a bad taste with many. Sadly it seems kind of in character for the new team; I withhold judgment but am inclined to feel very negative about the future under their direction.

Lance and Joanne Potts

A final addition, 21 Jan 2020: Nic did use the same dogs and in his recap he pretty well admitted that might not have been a good decision. I really do respect the guy and will continue to root for him but at times his willpower and enthusiasm does override good judgement. BTW it was Jim Lanier that he worked with and apprenticed under several years ago. Jim was the oldest K300 finisher ever --his speech as he took his 19th place award--and Lance had little to say as he took his red lantern but he was smiling and said it was his first ever--deliberate for sure. Last, Joanna Jagow got the vet's care award; all 12 of her dogs finished and in 14th place of 21. I need to research--was she the Jr I'Rod winner a couple of years ago? Maybe just a similar name--will confirm next report, which ever.

Copper Basin 300--2020

It is not over-over but despite some confusion on the tracker I am pretty sure the top five are in. Nic Petit finished some time ago and scored a three-pete, his third top place in this race for three years running, similar to what Pete Kaiser, last year's I'rod Champ, did in the Kuskokwim. The exact order the other four came in is still not clear but the top five are as I had begun to be sure: Brent Sass, Aliy Zirkle, Ryne Olson and Matt Failer--who had snagged Deedee Jonrowe for a handler!! I mean how fantastic is that?! I am happy for Nic. He will be contending with Pete and with Joar Liefseth Ulsom in the Iditarod 2020 come March. Not to denigrate Aliy, Jessie Royer and Paige Drobney who were all top-ten finishers last year and any one could be a winner.

Let me take a little detour here and talk about Nic. When I started this blog in 2014 after my first trip to Alaska where I met several amazing people and many more amazing dogs, I chose "Alamogordo to Alaska" for the title. Right then I had no way to guess that another person could have used that as well, a guy who was going to bust into the upper levels of the sled dog racing world very soon. That guy was Nic Petit.

He arrived in Alamogordo from France with his mother and lived with grand parents when he was in middle school  and into high school while living there for several years. While that may not figure very much in his eventual move to Alaska and advancement into the sled dog business, it remains a fact and one the local newspaper there covered the last couple of years. So in that we have a very strange and small kinship--we are both Alamogordo 'refugees'. He might say it is a good place to be from too!

Nic and Lolly

As I said on my Facebook page, Nic is kind of an underdog. He is, along with Aliy, in that "always a bridesmaid" category of second place finishes and rotten luck events that just won't go away. I know many say he brings most of the bad crap on himself but I don't really buy that. I met him my second trip to Alaska in 2016. He was at the annual meeting and first sign up day at Iditarod Headquarters with  a dog who was then his favorite leader. She was completely loose and free but seemed to be Velcroed to his side if not in his lap! I think he called her Lolly or Libby, two well known names in the racing world and she clearly loved him as he did her. He seemed very unassuming and a rather gentle person, at least what I saw. So he is an underdog and after the women, I will root for  him this year in the I'rod.If Aliy cannot win and Jessie or Paige do not, then I hope he does!

Aliy and Deedee--like jeff and mutt!

An odd tidbit on the two female mushers in the CB this time. Ryne was an apprentice and handler at SPK for a season or two before she started her own kennel and now is doing quite well. I know Aliy and Allen thought a lot of her. The two women have been friendly competitors in several races now that Ryne is doing her own thing. One of Ryne's dogs was the sire of Junior's litter last year. Junior, now that Quito is gone and her own mother Olive is retired, is one of the top dogs at SPK so you know a slouch dog would not be picked to produce her first litter of pups! It will be interesting to see how those pupsters do.  This year Aliy had three newbies on her team--Razz, who was an adoptee from another kennel and Sanka and Perky from the Coffee Litter. Razz and Perky were left at the last checkpoint but did very well up to then. Both were getting sore and Aliy will not push dogs at that point. She wants them to always feel it is fun and running while hurting is not fun.

At any rate, CB300 is just about in the history books. It was a cold and hard race. nearly half the starters scratched out at some point. Of course the stock answer is 'in the interest of the dogs,' and for the most part that is truth but i do know some mushers this time felt it was not worth the stress to the team and even maybe to them when the purse is small and bigger events are coming. Why risk an injury or a frostbite incident to a dog that might be critical to your success in the YQ or the Iditarod? Or even the Kusko--which was delayed due to weather conditions and will run this coming weekend.
The organizers of that race are really working to build it up with a very appealing purse and a lot of publicity. Several mushers opted out of the CB300 after the reschedule which left two hard mid- distance races back to back with just short days to make a long trip between them. I know Paige Drobney was one and there were several more.

The Races Are On

The Copper Basin will be starting today by mid-morning Alaska time.   I found the tracker and put it on my bookmark bar already. http://trackleaders.com/copper20

I do not have the list of all the mushers--there are 27 last I saw. Aliy Z drew bib 13--she is not superstitious about that number and considers it lucky, BTW.   She will start in the middle of the pack and have about a half hour's differential to make up at one checkpoint/rest stop. Her team of twelve has a mix of three rookies and four old timers who have made this race 4 or 5 times. Both Olivia/Nacho (life long mates at SPK) and The Late Very Great Quito are well represented with their descendants. Junior and Violet, two Olivia daughters who greatly resemble he, are providing a lot of experience along with two powerful boys from other litters. It is going to be bitter cold--they say -49 with some wind chill at the start! This is generally harder for the mushers than the dogs. Their enemy is heat and above 32 starts to give them overheating problems.  The CB is generally cold and previews some of the same conditions as the western end of the YQ/YQ300 coming along next month.

There is also a lower 48 race in progress, The Gunflint 2020 in Montana. A couple of the Reddingtons and Laura Neese, an I'rod and YQ vet, are in it. Trackleaders also has a tracker going on it. That is a super website, BTW, as they track most of the major sled dog events and many other competitions as well.

Most of the lower 48 races are the 'staged' type. This means times are taken from checkpoint/stop to the next one and added together to determine the winners. They are not one long continuous dash like the I'Rod and the YQ and a few in Scandinavia but the total distances can be into several hundred miles. Some European races are also run this way. So there are several different types of sled dog races.

The 'big ones' that are 1000 miles --more or less--or similar kilometers, the mid-distance at roughly 3-500 miles or equivalent and the staged races, and then the sprints or short races of a few to maybe 20-50 miles where sheer speed is the only way to get there first. Most dogs are best suited for one type or another and very few distance dogs sprint or vise-versa. The Fur Rondy event in the Anchorage area just before the Iditarod has a number of those.

I am most invested in the distance races, the big ones and the  mid-distance qualifiers. To enter both the Iditarod and the Yukon as a rookie, mushers have to complete some of the mid-distance ones to validate experience and ability to take on the real marathons. Some choose not to go beyond the mid-distance races, also. I still respect and admire them as some of those shorter races are real bearcats--terrain, weather conditions etc.

Anyway the season is underway and I am amped about it.

I really hope next year to be up there for both the big ones. The YQ will end in Fairbanks in 2021 so I might make that and the I'rod both!!!

I swiped this photo off FB but like the feel of taking off into the sunrise. Fast smooth runs to all those on the trail today!

Time to Run Again!

For two years I did not post anything here. There are a lot of reasons for this. I did not quit following the races, both in Alaska and Canada and the northern US as well. I stayed an avid fan and dreamed of the day I might again go to the north 49th and be near the beautiful dogs and heroic mushers I so love and admire. I just did not write or post here.

For one thing about the time I backed off, my brother/roommate and I decided we had more than enough of New Mexico and were ready to move back to our spirits' home in the state of Arizona. That was a huge and difficult project--covered in my detail in my Dreams, Dogs, Deserts and Druid (4Ds) blog. I also had gotten a bit crosswise with one lady musher who took an exception to anything I said on several Facebook groups that focused on racing, sled dogs and similar topics. She accused me of being an attention hogging stupid fan who pretended to know a lot when I really did not have a clue and would jump on anything I said, even the most mild and innocent comment. I still do not know why. However, given my history of low self esteem, lack of confidence and such--again covered a lot on 4Ds--I began to doubt myself and question whether I had any business aspiring to write a book about the sport I love and the wonderful dogs and the amazing women who drive them in the races. That project was placed on the back burner, never forgotten or surrendered but jammed up against an enormous writer's block that threw a blanket of silence over me--including here.

Also things up north have been very disrupted and many changes have taken place and continue in my first race love, the venerable and iconic Iditarod. Dallas Seavey was accused--probably falsely-- of drugging his dogs. Other mushers were hassled by the 'official' drug testing vet clinic's main man. PeTA threw huge protests and eventually the whole board structure of the organization was turned inside out and rebuilt. I am still feeling a bit shaken and uncertain about the eventual result of all this but with the 2020 race season about to begin--despite some fierce cold temperatures and lack of snow in many areas--I have caught the fever and want to get back to talking, cussing and discussing with anyone who is interested and of course following the excitement.

We have two new champs since I last posted. Joar Leifseth Ulsom won the 2018 race and Pete Kaiser won in 2019. Some old regulars have either retired or ceased to compete in a real intensive way, simply making the run for the joy and good memories. Deedee Jonrowe scratched out in 2018which she had said would be her last and in 2019r went along as a commentator and reporter by snow machine.  Jeff King, Lance Mackey, Martin Buser and other multiple winners seem to have admitted their fifth win is unlikely and now leave fighting for the top ten to the young up and coming bunch. And that group now includes several women, a fact I cheer with much enthusiasm. There were three in the top ten in 2019: Jessie Royer, Aliy Z and Paige Drobney! This year will be very exciting, I am sure. Joar vs Pete, Nic Petit still hungry for a win and those hard charging gals...

So enough of that. The Copper Basin 300 kicks off Saturday and will be live broadcast. Several of the other mid-distance races will be happening soon too. Watch for dates, links to the trackers or the sites etc. The The Yukon Quest will start from Fairbanks this year in February and of course the Iditarod will begin March 7. Oh, how I would love to be up there as a volunteer again but this year it just isn't possible.

Anyway I will be back and sharing details and even some of my ill informed and misguided opinions in all likelihood! Yes, I can joke about it now but for some time I was really depressed and nearly devastated. Thankfully my dear friend Helen Hegener always tried to support and encourage me and her help was invaluable. I saw how Aliy came back after her terrible encounter with the drunken snow machine guy and decided my trauma was way, way, way less than that. I knew it was time to musher up and get back on the trail!!

On by! I am heading out. See you very soon here!! Smooth, fast trail and good runs to one and all.