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Last week was the 31st running of the John Beargrease Sled Dog Marathon. I photographed several of the teams as they traveled up the Gunflint Trail. It was a beautiful morning with light snow as the dog teams arrived at the Trail Center checkpoint.

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Blake Freking from Finland, Minnesota has some of the most beautiful dogs. His Siberia Huskies were full of energy as they crossed Poplar Lake even though they had run all night and covered approximately 130 miles.

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You can tell that these dogs love to run, as they appear to be smiling.

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One of the other mushers was Colleen Wallin who lives in Silver Bay. Colleen has raced the full marathon for 11 years and loves running dogs. Every time I see her behind a dog team she has a smile on her face.

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As she approached the checkpoint she signaled with her hands what I understood to mean that it is all about the dogs; they are the real stars.

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It did get cold during the night as you can see from Peter McClelland’s beard. Both musher and dogs were covered with frost.

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It didn’t take long for the dogs to fall asleep. A little straw and they are very comfortable.

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This is one of Jenny Greger’s dogs. Jenny is from Montana and at 19 years old was running her first full marathon. At this point she was the frontrunner. Jenny won the mid-distance race last year.

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This is another one of Jenny’s dogs. He looks like Superman with the cape and red boots. After all the other dogs went to sleep this one finally laid down.

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Jenny’s dad and adoptive grandmother, Lori, were her dog handlers. I enjoyed talking to Lori who has accomplished a lot in life and still works at Yellowstone National Park in the summer months. She has no intention of slowing down. She holds the record for the highest altitude in a hot air balloon for a woman, over 25,000 feet.

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Jenny comes from a mushing family. Her dad ran dogs for 30 years and was excited to see his daughter follow in his mushing footsteps.

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Jenny came in fifth place. Her goal was to be in the top five so congratulations on a job well done.

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Erin Altemus from Grand Marais ran the full marathon for the first time and was named “Rookie of the Year”. Erin came in fourth completing the 319 miles in 38 hours and 47 minutes.

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There are hundreds of river crossings along the trail. Here Erin is crossing the historic Temperance River Bridge. This bridge originally spanned the Cross River on Hwy 61 in the 1920s.

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Erin is another musher that always has a smile on her face.

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