MARQUETTE, MI-- There’s a flurry of activity in downtown Marquette Friday, as people and dogs prepare for the UP200 and Midnight Run sled dog races.
The Iditarod-qualifying UP200 takes the 12-dog teams from Marquette to Grand Marais and back—a 240-mile trip that includes mandatory layovers to let the dogs and mushers rest. Eighteen teams are signed up for that event.
The Midnight Run is an eight-dog 80-mile race from Marquette to Munising with a checkpoint in Chatham. This year the Midnight Run starts in Marquette after the UP200 mushers have left, which will prevent teams in the two races from running into each other on the trail. Twenty-nine teams are registered for the Midnight Run.
The UP200 launches at 6:50 p.m. from downtown Marquette, followed by the Midnight Run at 9 p.m.
And the Jack Pine 30—a six-dog, 30-mile race—starts and finishes in Gwinn on Saturday. For the first time this year a purse will be offered in that race.
