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MARQUETTE -- It's the U.P., so we first have to set the weather scene:  temperatures in the twenties, with winds gusting up to forty miles an hour, plus a few flurries falling.

For the spectators, it was the perfect opportunity to take in a sled dog race.

"I'm excited to see the dogs.  There was two and then a lot came," says four-year-old Julilynn Zinski.

"I've always wanted to see dogs race, and I'm excited to see what the dogs look like, and the sleds, and I didn't think it would be this cold!" exclaims Beth Jankowski of Kenosha, Wisconsin.

"I'm looking forward to seeing the different types of dogs that are racing, and the mushers, and some of the equipment," adds Bonnie Landwehr of Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin.

Cold indeed, but organizers were still pleased with what ended up being a heavy turnout.  The crowd down Washington Street was four or five people deep in some places.  It's estimated that there were at least 5,000 people downtown Friday night.

And while race fans were treated to the 18 teams taking off out of the chute every two minutes, not everything went smoothly.  This particular musher lost his team at the beginning and was dragged about halfway down the block before the dogs stopped.

"Some of the roughest trail is out of Marquette, so we'll know pretty shortly how well they're doing.  We're pretty confident in all of the changes we made," says U.P. Sled Dog Association President Pat Torreano.

The trail was re-routed in Deerton, Chatham, and off of the AuTrain Basin.

Overnight, the mushers shouldn't have too many problems.

"Temperatures dropping, that's what we wanted," Torreano says.  "I think our trail boss is as pleased as she can get with what we've had to work with."

Organizers are anticipating that the first mushers will be pulling into Grand Marais around ten Friday morning, after riding through the night.

The race finishes at Lower Harbor in Marquette on Sunday morning.