John Beargrease Sled Dog Marathon back from the dead

Four months from now, winter snows willing, Nathan Schroeder and his team of Alaskan huskies will set off from Duluth on a grueling 400-mile journey up the North Shore — and back — in the reincarnated John Beargrease sled dog marathon.

On the verge of bankruptcy just one year ago, the Beargrease was pulled from the brink by a group of passionate volunteers and a $50,000 pledge of support from the Black Bear Casino in Carlton, Minn.

The casino "stepped right up to the plate and saved this race," said Schroeder, the race's reigning champion.

The Beargrease was held in January, albeit with just 11 sled dog teams.

This season, buoyed by the casino's continued support with another $50,000 pledge and rising interest from sled dog teams beyond Minnesota, Beargrease organizers say they're hoping to build momentum from last year's deathbed save by bumping the purse up from $35,000 to $45,000.

In the weeks since registration opened, 36 teams have signed up for the full 400-mile race up and down the North Shore or a shorter version that runs from Duluth to Tofte, Minn.

"We've got a [great] dog race just with who's signed up already," said Jason Rice, the president of the board of directors of John Beargrease Sled Dog Marathon Inc. Aside from three-time winner Schroeder, the race has drawn a registration from Jamie Nelson, the winningest musher in Beargrease history with four victories.

At the same time, the immensely popular sport of skijoring, which can be done with just one dog pulling a person on Nordic skis, has drawn renewed interest in dog sledding, Nelson said.

"People get out there and they enjoy it and they say, 'Boy it would be fun with a couple of dogs and a sled,' " she said.

"We've come in a big circle," said Rice, who was one of the volunteers to show up at a board meeting last October in hopes of saving the race. The then-board was about to shutter the Beargrease office — the Internet connection and phone had already been turned off — when Rice and others stepped in.

"We had to do a double take and say, 'Really? Are we going to let this go away?' " he said. The board members voted instead to resign and hand authority for the race over to new volunteers. Prospects for holding the race improved tremendously when the Black Bear Casino, which is owned and operated by the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, pitched in.

Today race organizers say they hope to build a NASCAR-like circuit of sled dog races in the Upper Midwest, partnering the Beargrease with existing races in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, on the Apostle Islands and elsewhere into a season-long series. The hope is that the races would gather more attention, sponsors and fans working together, and perhaps take a bit more of the spotlight from the sport's dominant race, the 1,000-mile Iditarod in Alaska.

Named for an American Indian man who delivered mail and supplies up and down the North Shore, sometimes by dog sled, the Beargrease was first held in 1980. The race was canceled in 2007 and 2012 for lack of snow, and delayed in 2013 for the same reason.

The marathon, which begins Jan. 25, can take four days, while the shorter race usually lasts about a day.

The races can accommodate up to 80 teams total, organizers say. The races will be broadcast live on iFan.tv, blogged by three people out on the trail for sponsor Duluth Trading Co., and covered by a team from Sports Illustrated and local media. Fans can follow the progress of the mushers online at www.beargrease.com thanks to GPS devices attached to the sleds.

Schroeder, who will be gunning for Nelson's record of four victories this year, said he will rely on some of his veteran sled dogs, including nine-year-olds Diablo, Madonna and Achilles. The trio of huskies have been on every one of his Beargrease teams since his first race in 2008. "They are incredible athletes," he said.

Matt McKinney • 612-673-7329