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Phil Bencomo / Lake Superior Magazine
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Phil Bencomo / Lake Superior Magazine
Frank Moe and his marathon team.
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Phil Bencomo / Lake Superior Magazine
Zoya DeNure and her marathon team.
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Phil Bencomo / Lake Superior Magazine
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Phil Bencomo / Lake Superior Magazine
Nathan Schroeder and his marathon team.
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Phil Bencomo / Lake Superior Magazine
Blake Freking and his marathon team.
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Phil Bencomo / Lake Superior Magazine
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Phil Bencomo / Lake Superior Magazine
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Phil Bencomo / Lake Superior Magazine
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Phil Bencomo / Lake Superior Magazine
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Phil Bencomo / Lake Superior Magazine
Thea Schneider and her mid-distance team.
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Phil Bencomo / Lake Superior Magazine
Maggie Heilmann and her mid-distance team.
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Phil Bencomo / Lake Superior Magazine
Maggie Heilmann.
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Phil Bencomo / Lake Superior Magazine
Paul Amano and his mid-distance team.
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Phil Bencomo / Lake Superior Magazine
Nick Turman and his mid-distance team.
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Phil Bencomo / Lake Superior Magazine
Nick Turman.
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Phil Bencomo / Lake Superior Magazine
Merlyn Coy and his mid-distance team.
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Phil Bencomo / Lake Superior Magazine
Erin Altemus and her mid-distance team.
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Phil Bencomo / Lake Superior Magazine
Truman Obermeyer and his mid-distance team.
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Phil Bencomo / Lake Superior Magazine
Jennifer Freking and her mid-distance team.
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Phil Bencomo / Lake Superior Magazine
Michael Bestgen and his mid-distance team.
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Phil Bencomo / Lake Superior Magazine
Michael Bestgen.
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Phil Bencomo / Lake Superior Magazine
Michael Bestgen.
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Phil Bencomo / Lake Superior Magazine
Martha Schouweiler and her mid-distance team.
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Phil Bencomo / Lake Superior Magazine
Hannah Abbotts and her mid-distance team.
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Phil Bencomo / Lake Superior Magazine
David Perron and his mid-distance team.
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Phil Bencomo / Lake Superior Magazine
David Perron.
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Phil Bencomo / Lake Superior Magazine
David Perron.
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Phil Bencomo / Lake Superior Magazine
Mike Hoff and his mid-distance team.
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Phil Bencomo / Lake Superior Magazine
Mike Hoff.
Six weeks after the race was postponed because of a lack of snow – and a year after a mild winter canceled it altogether – the 29th running of the John Beargrease Sled Dog Marathon got underway on Sunday north of Duluth.
Assistant editor Phil Bencomo captured a few images of the start.
Since January's postponement, several winter storms have left a solid base on the trails of the North Shore, though Sunday's warm temperatures and the four to six inches that fell on Saturday slowed down mushers and their dogs.
Jenny Greger, a 17-year-old from Bozeman, Montana, racing in her first Beargrease, claimed the 125-mile mid-distance title Monday morning.
The Beargrease's organizers report:
Conditions are still more kind for people, but dropping into the teens and lower 20′s (F) overnight made the morning run certainly more palatable on the canine athletes.
Mushers in the 375-mile marathon are expected to finish on Wednesday.