Wisconsinite Lisa Dietzen's dream since she was just a kindergartner
SKANDIA -- The number of teams entering this year's Midnight Run dog sled race in Marquette continues to grow. We're less than a month away from the start of the race.
It'll be a big day for a local college student who has taken a special interest in the sport.
It's been Wisconsinite Lisa Dietzen's dream since she was just a kindergartner--lead a team of sled dogs in a professional race. But, it wasn't until she came to college at Northern Michigan University and volunteered for the UP 200 did it land within her sights.
"That's when I started talking to people and they said, 'I bet you could find somebody that would be willing to teach you how to dog sled, take you in as an apprentice," says Dietzen.
From there, she was thrown almost literally into the sport at Snowy Plains Kennel in Sands Township.
"He said, 'You want to run some dogs today?' I said of course I'd love to run some dogs today. He set me up with a three-dog team and said, 'See you later," Dietzen says.
She says it wasn't easy, but she was hooked. She spent two years at Snowy Plains and is now helping out at Team Evergreen, a competitive kennel with musher David Gill.
It's all to meet her ultimate goal: run in the Iditarod someday.
The Midnight Run won't be her first race, but with the longest leg being 50 miles, it will be a challenge. She's preparing by hitting the trails for sometimes five hours with her team.
She says she's nervous, excited, but most importantly...
"I hope I don't screw up!" she laughed.
Dietzen says the trophies and purse prizes are nice, but in the end she'd just like to have fun and finish with happy, healthy dogs.
TV Station Profiles & Public Inspection Files forWLUC