John Beargrease Dog Sled Race of Minnesota's North Shore" by Daniel Lancaster (Holy Cow! Press, 2008). John Beargrease Dog Sled Race The John Beargrease Sled Dog Race is a dogsled race held along the North Shore of Lake Superior in northeast Minnesota. At 400 miles, it is the longest sled dog race in the lower 48 states. The "Beargrease" is a qualifier for the famed Iditarod race in Alaska. The name of the race honors John Beargrease, a winter mail carrier who traveled by dog sled between Two Harbors, Minnesota and Grand Marais, Minnesota during the last two decades of the nineteenth century. The race
Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race also joined his father and brother, Dick and Rick Mackey as an Iditarod champion. All three Mackeys raced with the bib number 13, and all won their respective titles on their sixth try. The "Golden Harness" is most frequently given to the lead dog or dogs of the winning team. However, it is decided by a vote of the mushers, and in 2008 was given to Babe, the lead dog of Ramey Smyth, the 3rd-place finisher. Babe was almost 11 years old when she finished the race, and it was her ninth Iditarod. The "Rookie of the Year" award is