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Paul L. Hayden / Lake Superior Magazine
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Paul L. Hayden / Lake Superior Magazine
Citing the lack of snow and the hazardous trail conditions, organizers of the John Beargrease Sled Dog Marathon have postponed the race until March 10.
“For the safety of the dogs and the mushers, I don’t know that we had any choice but to postpone the race,” says Pat Olson, Beargrease race coordinator.
After last Friday’s rain, “I went up to the Highway 2 checkpoint and there wasn’t a whole lot of snow left,” says Pat. “It was just a hard-packed trail, and icy.”
March 10, Pat says, “was the weekend we found that had the least conflicting events.”
Beargrease organizers had announced last week a contingency plan that would have preserved the original Jan. 27 race date, limiting mushers to eight dogs on the trail from Duluth to Two Harbors and moving the mid-distance race farther up the Lake Superior shore.
But that plan had to be scrapped.
“The rain just didn’t do us any favors,” says Pat. “There wasn’t a whole lot of snow up there in the first place.”
A full refund will be offered to mushers until Jan. 27. Registration has also been extended to Feb. 28.
The Beargrease was canceled last year and in 2007 because of poor trail conditions.