Martha Schouweiler's winning streak came to an end this morning, when Ryan Anderson crossed the finish line of the Beargrease 120 less than ten minutes before she did.
Anderson, who suffered his own streak-breaking loss last year, just missed the chance to tie Jamie Nelson and Nathan Schroeder's record of four marathon wins when he took second in the 2018 full marathon.
But with this morning's win, he becomes the first person to ever win multiple full and half marathons.
Martha Schouweiler's good times weren't enough to net the half-marathon veteran a fifth consecutive 120 win.
Joanna Oberg followed in third place and Rita Wheseler finished in fourth.
Julia Cross, a protege of Peter McClelland and recently of Frank Moe, was first across the finish line in the Junior 120. We talked with her in 2015.
Where in the world are the GPS trackers?
The Beargrease reports that the GPS trackers, due to be flown in, have been delayed by the cold weather, so the race is rockin' it "old school," and our race reporter and Beargrease veteran, John Stetson, says it's more fun this way!
"You can't pull the pin at Billy's"
Ryan Anderson, fresh off the sled from his 120 win this morning, joins us to talk about the new train, new finish line and race strategy.
KUMD will have another Beargrease report at 11:00am this morning, and John Stetson will join us again live from the trail this afternoon at 2:00pm!
2:00 PM UPDATE:
Julia Cross takes first place in the John Beargrease Junior Class 120 Race, crossing the finish line over two hours ahead of her competitors. Nicole Grangroth took second place, followed by Ero Wallin in 3rd.
In the full-length marathon, Colleen Wallin left Sawbill a bit earlier than her competitors; John Steston says she may be feeling under the weather, so leaving early gives her a longer rest break at Trail Center this afternoon. In the meanwhile, Ryan Redington, who left Sawbill over 50 minutes after Wallin, is believed to be in the lead now, due to arrive at Trail Center any minute. [3:15 note: Redington did arrive first at 2:17, followed by Coleen Wallin at 2:32, and Blake Freking at 3:06 pm.]
The blowing snow overnight did slow some teams a bit, but we still hope to see finishers arriving in Grand Portage sometime mid-day tomorrow; if Redington can keep up his pace [a factor that contributed to his win last year] we may see his team take the laurel. But others, like Coleen Wallin and Blake Freking, are not too far behind. The cold temperature may still be a factor; though hearty, the canine competitors still can be affected by sub-zero temps, so mushers will keep a careful eye on their team members in the coming hours.
Tune in to 103.3 KUMD tomorrow morning at 8 am for the next Beargrease Trail Report to find out what happened overnight, and who looks to be leading the pack.
