41st John Beargrease Sled Dog Marathon: photos and updates
The 41st John Beargrease Sled Dog Marathon kicked off on Sunday, Jan. 25 with mushers taking off from the starting line at Billy’s Bar in Duluth. The first mushers left the starting line at 11:05 a.m.
Teams running the mid-distance Beargrease 120 are expected to finish the race on Monday morning at the Trestle Inn in Finland, Minn. For the teams competing in the 300-mile marathon race, the first teams are expected to arrive in Grand Portage beginning Tuesday evening.
WTIP will be following the race and providing updates, including photos and interviews from some of the marathon checkpoints.
All of the Beargrease 120 mushers completed the course before noon on Monday. Official results have not yet been released, but based on race timing sheets, the first three mushers to finish the race were Sean de Wolski, Joanna Oberg, and Rita Wehseler. More preliminary results of that race and the Beargrease 40 can be found at the bottom of this page.
As of Tuesday morning, Erin Aili and Ryan Anderson are leading the marathon race. Aili was the first team to arrive at the Trail Center checkpoint up the Gunflint Trail on Monday afternoon. She won the 2025 marathon. Temperatures at Trail Center on Monday afternoon hovered around zero degrees.
Cook County musher Erin Altemus announced on social media on Monday evening that she was withdrawing from the race. She cited “team dynamics” as contributing to her decision not to continue in the marathon. Altemus came in second in the 2025 marathon race. As of Tuesday morning, seven of the 22 marathon mushers have scratched.
9:30 a.m. Tuesday updates
Teams began arriving at the Mineral Center checkpoint on Tuesday morning. Musher Ryan Anderson passed Erin Aili overnight and arrived at Mineral Center first. The Mineral Center checkpoint is the final checkpoint in the Beargrease marathon. Teams are required to take a four hour layover before departing for the final 31 miles to the finish at Grand Portage Lodge & Casino.
At approximately 9:46 a.m. race officials posted on the John Beargrease Sled Dog Marathon Facebook page that with time differentials taken into account Aili was eight minutes faster than Anderson on the way to Mineral Center checkpoint, cutting the gap between the two to just 35 seconds after 258 miles. On social media, race officials said, “Don’t rely on the trackers for the final results!”
Race officials posted the earliest out times for Mineral Center are the following:
The first teams are expected to arrive at the Grand Portage Lodge & Casino around 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday evening.
You can follow the remainder of the marathon race below with live GPS updates.
WTIP’s Chuck Olsen and Kalli Hawkins are covering the race from checkpoints along the route to take photos and speak with mushers. Check back here for photos throughout the race.
Sawbill Checkpoint – Monday morning
Musher Mary England chats with WTIP about how the race is going. Audio below.
Musher Rita Wehsler talks about racing in the Beargrease 120 this year
WTIP’s Kalli Hawkins spoke with Beargrease 120 Musher Rita Wehsler in the days leading up to the John Beargrease race. Wehsler talks about her team, why she’s running in the Beargrease 120, and how training conditions have been this season. The audio is below.
Musher Erin Altemus talks about racing in the Beargrease Marathon
WTIP’s Kirsten Wisniewski spoke with Beargrease Marathon musher Erin Altemus. Altemus came in second in the 2025 marathon race, and she talked about how preparing this season compares to previous years. Audio of that conversation is below.
Race Results
(*) denotes a musher based in the Arrowhead
Beargrease 120
- 1st place – Sean de Wolski
- 2nd place – Joanna Oberg*
- 3rd place – Rita Wehseler*
- 4th place – Nick Turman*
- 5th place – Alex Laplante*
- 6th place – Kendra Anderson*
- 7th place – Alyssa Sabatino
- 8th place – Dallin Donaldson
- 9th place – Rémy Leduc
- 10th place – David Hicks*
- 11th place – Hanna Bart
- 12th place – Elena Freking*
- 13th place – Eva Kolodji*
- 14th place – Lucy Howe
- 15th place – Caleb Briggs
- 16th place – Sarah Smith
- 17th place – Luke Schieffelbein
- 18th place – William Sima
- 19th place – Monroe Mondor
- 20th place – Kirk Webter
Scratched mushers: Melissa Mendelson, Scott Edgett*
Beargrease 40
- 1st place – Ganny Edmonson
- 2nd place – Erin Schouweiler
- 3rd place – Jim Ward*
- 4th place – Julia Cross
- 5th place – Tracy Jansen
- 6th place – Billie Diver
- 7th place – Robin Sue Fischer*
- 8th place – Eva Robinson
- 9th place – Nicole Freking*
- 10th place – TJ Squires
Scratched mushers: Mike Gleason, Brian Bergen
Kirsten Wisniewski January 26, 2026
