Chelsie Brown
Updated: January 27, 2019 10:42 PM
This year marks the the 35th running of the John Beargrease Sled Dog Marathon. The biggest change in 2019 happens to be the course. Instead of starting in Two Harbors, mushers and their teams took off around noon from Billy’s Bar in Duluth.
Full marathoners will trek up the North Shore to Grand Portage, while mid-distance teams will finish in Lutsen Monday morning. Back to defend her title is four-time mid-distance champion Martha Schouweiler of Irma, Wisconsin.
"I know it will be a little hillier, so the challenge for me is - do I just go with the same outfit? These kind of temperatures you don’t want to get too warm. You actually don’t even want to sweat," said Schouweiler. "That’s kind of the lure of dog mushing is that it’s so many details. It’s so interesting and it’s different every single time. It’s just absolutely never boring."
Mid-distance teams are expected to finish around the 5 AM Monday morning.
Updated: January 27, 2019 10:42 PM
Created: January 27, 2019 09:08 PM
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