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Cold, wind not a factor in WolfTrack Classic

Frigid fun

THE GREAT OUTDOORS

ALOYSIA POWER
Posted 2/26/15

REGIONAL — Amid howling straight-line winds and temperatures reaching a frigid low of -24 in Tower, mushers and their teams from around the Midwest and Ontario competed in the seventh annual Wolf …

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Cold, wind not a factor in WolfTrack Classic

Frigid fun

THE GREAT OUTDOORS

Posted

REGIONAL — Amid howling straight-line winds and temperatures reaching a frigid low of -24 in Tower, mushers and their teams from around the Midwest and Ontario competed in the seventh annual Wolf Track Classic sled dog race between Tower and Ely on Feb. 22.

Though many spectators watched from the warmth of their cars and race volunteers shivered in wait for the finish, weather conditions were just right for racing, according to several mushers.

“The cold isn’t a factor,” said musher Frank Moe, of Moetown Kennels in Hovland. “(The dogs) build up heat when they’re running.”

Dogs that were more susceptible to frost bite due to previous exposure wore wind jackets during the race, but the rest of the dogs were fine in just their fur and booties.

Moe’s handler and fellow racer, Mark Luttinen, of the same kennel, even went so far as to say that he was too hot during the race.

“I’m sopping wet,” said Luttinen, unzipping the top of his thick, down jacket to reveal his sweat-through shirt. “I ran every hill, both ways.”

Luttinen jumps off his sled runners and sprints alongside the sled up hills to help save his dogs’ energy for the top of the hills where it’s more flat — and apparently his efforts worked, putting him in fifth place in five hours and nine minutes in the eight-dog race.

“We did as best as we could in our condition; our two fastest leaders are at home from being tired,” he said.

Just a week prior to the WolfTrack, Luttinen and Moe competed in the 240-mile UP 200 from Marquette to Grand Marais, Mich., where they said they faced up to 40-mile-per-hour winds combined with -15 degrees.

“That was too cold,” said Luttinen.

Almost an hour ahead of Luttinen, and 39 minutes ahead of the second-place racer, Dusty Klaven crossed the finish of this year’s newly added eight-dog, 50-mile race on top in four hours and 17 minutes. The Gheen musher placed fifth in last year’s six-dog WolfTrack race and, at the end of January, placed sixth in the mid-distance, 150-mile John Beargrease Sled Dog Marathon along the north shore of Lake Superior.

Klaven won $800 for her top performance.

Along with adding a third race onto the event, WolfTrack officials changed the course this year by consolidating the route between Ely and Tower on state snowmobile trails. All three races started in Ely, but only the eight- and 10-dog races circled around to finish in Ely. The six-dog race continued to end in Tower.

Ryan Anderson, of Ray, won the 66-mile, 10-dog race in a time of five hours and 38 minutes — over 40 minutes faster than last year’s top 10-dog finishing time and 20 minutes ahead of this year’s second-place finisher — for a purse of $1,100. Anderson was also this year’s winner of the 420-mile John Beargrease marathon.

The six-dog race was championed by Clayton Schneider of Dryden, Ontario, in two hours and six minutes. Schneider has won four of the past six WolfTrack six-dog races, and each year, gives his race earnings back to the race. This year was no different for Schneider, except that he chose to give his purse away by drawing a random name of one the racers.

Andrea DeBoer, a musher in the six-dog, won his $650 race check.

“I want to help dog sledding in anyway I can,” said Schneider. “We are overwhelmed with the hospitality we receive at the WolfTrack.”

Devon Carr, 14, and Adam Moore, also from Clayton’s Kennel in Dryden, took second and third, respectively, in the six-dog race. Carr finished in two hours and 14 minutes, while Moore crossed the line in two hours and 16 minutes.

The race’s youngest finisher, 13-year-old Samuel Louters of Hollandale, Minn., ran through the eight-dog finish in seven hours and 43 minutes.