FINLAND, Minn. — Musher Peter McClelland, of Isabella, was the first musher to enter the second checkpoint of the John Beargrease Sled Dog Marathon on Sunday. McClelland arrived just after 8 p.m. with 2025 champion Erin Aili just minutes behind him.
Due to a staggered start, McClelland’s first arrival does not mean he was leading the pack in race time. The Beargrease official timesheet listed Erin Altemus in the lead as of 9 p.m. Sunday.
The checkpoint at the Finland Community Center, 73 miles from the race start, usually means a rest of several hours for the dog teams before they return to the 300-mile trail to Grand Portage. The next stop for the marathoners will be the Sawbill Checkpoint 40 miles down the line, where mushers must care for their dogs unassisted and rest for a minimum of four hours.
Clint Austin / Duluth Media Group
A small crowd of spectators migrated from the warmth of the Community Center and a large bonfire in the parking lot to cheer the mushers and dogs as they arrived. McClelland said he planned to stay at the checkpoint for four hours before returning to the trail. During that time, he’ll need to switch to a backup sled after breaking three of the four wooden uprights that connect the sled’s basket to its ski-like runners about five miles before reaching Finland.
Gary Meader / Duluth Media Group file image
“Oh, just a simple wipeout,” McClelland said. “And a sled that’s seen a few too many Beargreases on it.”
Both he and the dogs are OK, he said. Aside from that, things are going well.
“Dogs are going great, trails are beautiful — hard-packed, great conditions,” he said. “Good temps.” It was minus 9 in Finland, but no wind and clear, starry skies.
Clint Austin / Duluth Media Group
Veteran musher Colleen Wallin scratched from the race after an accident near the beginning of the trail. Her sister, Maureen Sweeney Sexton, reported on social media that Wallin injured her ankle.
Edmonson wins Beargrease 40
5:18 p.m. Sunday
TWO HARBORS — Danny Edmonson of Fairhaven, Minnesota, edged out 11 other mushers and their dog teams to win the Beargrease 40 on Sunday.
The race, which is the shortest of the three John Beargrease Sled Dog races after the 300-mile marathon and the 120-mile mid-distance race, runs from Billy’s bar just outside Duluth to “The Pit” in Two Harbors.
Edmonson is a former professional motocross racer who started dogsledding at 16, but had never competed until this year, according to his bio at
He finished the race in 2:49:38.
Coming in second by just under a minute was Erin Schouweiler, of Irma, Wisconsin, a winner of the 120-mile race in 2020 and 2021.
Dogs, mushers start Beargrease
11:40 a.m. Sunday
RICE LAKE — The 41st John Beargrease Sled Dog Marathon is off and running.
After a ceremonial start for the spirit of John Beargrease, an Indigenous man who in the late 1800s delivered mail along the North Shore by dogsled, mushers departed Billy’s, a bar and restaurant in Rice Lake, every two minutes, passing through the starting chute lined with bundled-up fans.
For approximately 300 miles, marathon mushers and their teams of up to 12 dogs will run day and night, taking a total of 24 hours of rest at checkpoints along the route, before the winner reaches the finish line at Grand Portage Lodge and Casino on Tuesday afternoon. Mushers in the 120-mile and 40-mile races will start immediately after the marathoners and are expected to finish at the Trestle Inn early Monday morning and Two Harbors on Sunday evening, respectively.
Gary Meader / Duluth Media Group
This year’s race is expected to be competitive with a full field of 22 mushers, including four past winners: reigning champion Erin Aili, who also won in 2021; four-time winner Nathan Schroeder; four-time winner Ryan Anderson; and two-time winner Blake Freking.
It’s also expected to be cold.
Temperature hovered around minus 8 as the first mushers just after 11 a.m., according to the National Weather Service in Duluth.
Clint Austin / Duluth Media Group
Conditions will remain cold Sunday with an expected high of minus 1. Lows overnight could reach minus 21.
Monday is expected to warm up some, with highs in the single digits above zero, but the mushers will face a low temperature of minus 3 overnight with wind chill values between minus 20 and minus 30. A temperature of 4 degrees is expected when the first mushers cross the finish in Grand Portage.
Follow this page and duluthnewstribune.com for updates from along the course.
Our newsroom occasionally reports stories under a byline of “staff.” Often, the “staff” byline is used when rewriting basic news briefs that originate from official sources, such as a city press release about a road closure, and which require little or no reporting. At times, this byline is used when a news story includes numerous authors or when the story is formed by aggregating previously reported news from various sources. If outside sources are used, it is noted within the story.