Aili wins her second Beargrease Sled Dog Marathon

GRAND PORTAGE — Erin Aili has won her second John Beargrease Sled Dog Marathon.

The Ray, Minnesota, musher and her eight-dog team crossed the finish line Tuesday just after 10 a.m. at Grand Portage Lodge & Casino, 275 miles and nearly two full days after starting near Two Harbors. She also won the title in 2021.

Erin Altemus, of Two Harbors, finished in second just 11 minutes behind Aili.

After reaching the finish line, Aili patted each of the eight dogs on her team and draped the winner’s wreath around the collar of Juliet, who served as the lead dog since the first checkpoint. Another dog, Bubba, also helped lead.

Clint Austin / Duluth Media Group

“Her and Bubba did a really good job,” Aili said.

Aili said she felt “pretty good” during the last segment but spent much of the final 31 miles looking over her shoulder for Altemus. It wasn’t until the downhill section a few miles from the finish that she started to feel confident she’d win.

Clint Austin / Duluth Media Group

“Once you’re coming down (the hill), everybody’s on a fairly even playing field,” Aili said. “You can only go down so fast.”

The dogs’ energy, she said, remained high and four of them are now “defending champs.” They were on

her husband’s team that won the 2023 Beargrease,

the last time the race was held. It was canceled last year due to a lack of snow.

Clint Austin / Duluth Media Group

Like her husband, Keith Aili,

Erin is now a two-time Beargrease champion.

Altemus, who left the final checkpoint 12 minutes behind Aili, couldn’t manage to catch up and pass her but did shave a minute off the difference between them by the finish line.

Clint Austin / Duluth Media Group

Altemus said it ended up being the hardest leg of the race for her team.

“The dogs were mentally and, I suppose, physically fatigued, too,” Altemus said. “Just leaving the checkpoint, I had a few dogs that were mentally done and not really into it. But they came around.”

Her team got tangled with Jesse Terry, a Sioux Lookout, Ontario, musher who finished third, on a section of trail that doubles back, where mushers meet each other head-on. Her sled turned over when she attempted to redirect her dogs, who “tried to take a shortcut” back to the Mineral Center checkpoint. She thought a dog was overheating, so she stopped and let the dogs snack.

The only way she figured she’d catch up to Aili was if she was having just as bad a run. She said she thought, “I am not really having the run that I would need to win this.”

Clint Austin / Duluth Media Group

The annual sled dog marathon was delayed five weeks by a lack of snow and then shortened because of a lack of snow. Sunday’s start, traditionally in Duluth, was moved 40 miles up the shore to near Two Harbors.

The shortened 275-mile race started in icy conditions with little snow, but racers reported improved trail conditions as they approached Cook County.

Mushers and dogs also had to deal with temperatures approaching 40 degrees Monday, warmer than the race’s typical January setting and well above the dogs’ seemingly preferred temperature of around zero degrees.

Clint Austin / Duluth Media Group

Clint Austin / Duluth Media Group

Clint Austin / Duluth Media Group

Jimmy Lovrien covers environment-related issues, including mining, energy and climate, for the Duluth News Tribune. He can be reached at jlovrien@duluthnews.com or 218-723-5332.