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CHATHAM -- Mushers took off from Chatham Friday evening to mark off the 2012 UP 200 sled dog race.

Despite the mild start to the winter and some concerns about shortage of snow for the race, it all went as planned. Friday's low temperatures made for perfect racing conditions.

And just like that, one by one, 24 teams took off in the dark night. Although the mild winter brought just enough snow, one thing it didn't bring was the wind.

"We didn't have 40 mph winds like we had last year; weather's been fairly nice," said Start Coordinator Sarah Kimball.

Mushers warmed up their dogs just before 8 p.m. before taking on the 240-mile trail. One team came from Alaska and searched around the Midwest to find the white stuff. And they found it here. It's their first race of the year, and they're doing it for a special cause...raising awareness for Bristol Bay, Alaska where a pebble mine could risk the future of salmon.

"It could potentially mess up the salmon stream. A lot of toxins come out of there when they do this kind of mining, and it inevitably will leak in the water," said musher Tim Osmar.

They're hoping to defeat this reigning champion. This year, Ryan Anderson returns to claim the title for the third year in a row and says he hopes the lack of snow this winter has evened out the playing field.

"Everybody's been kind of in the same boat," said Anderson. "They've been training dogs at 28 degrees all winter long depending on where they're coming from; I think most places it's been in the 20s all year, low snow conditions, so I think a lot of people just recently got on sleds." 

The Midnight Run kicked off at 10 p.m. Mushers are heading to Wetmore, then Grand Marais, and back all the way around where they will cross the finish line in Grand Marais on Sunday.