Ryan Anderson wins CopperDog 150

EAGLE HARBOR, Mich. (WLUC) - Community members gathered in Eagle Harbor Sunday to watch CopperDog 150 participants cross the finish line.

Blake Freking of Finland, Minn. was one of 17 racers who competed in the last stretch of the race. Freking says because of the warm weather the track was tricky.

“It was warm so when we started out the trails were nice, fast, and hard,” Freking said. “There was kind of a line we got to where all of a sudden things where everything was slushy and getting a little deeper, and then there were areas of shade where the trail was nice and then it would get slushy. Overall, the trail was good and great.”

Freking says despite the trail conditions this year the race is one of his favorites he participates in.

“The CopperDog is kind of a unique race because it pulls together mushers from different disciplines,” Freking said. “There are sprint racers here, there are folks that specialize in stage racing and there are a lot of distance racers here. That is kind of the background we come from, so it is kind of fun to get together with all of those folks and share experiences.”

Trail Director Tony Shepeard says the event brings a lot of business to the area.

“It helps out tremendously, the local businesses are all great for supporting us,” Shepeard said. “They do a lot; we get all of our snowmobiles for the trail crew donated to us from Ride North and M&M Powersport. It is such a huge community effort, there are so many people involved in making this happen.”

Shepeard says with the race ending he feels bittersweet.

“It seems like it is building up, building up and all of a sudden boom it is over, and I wonder ‘where did it go?’ the weekend is almost done, and the last teams are coming in soon,” Shepeard said. “I guess we start planning for next year.”

Both Shepeard and Freking say although the CopperDog 150 finished Sunday they are already looking forward to next year’s race.

Ryan Anderson of Saint Croix Falls, Minnesota came in first place

Michael Bestgen of Saint Cloud, Minnesota was six minutes behind Anderson, in second place.

JR Anderson of Cook, Minnesota was 12 minutes behind Bestgen, in third place.

Read the full results here.

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