CopperDog officials are celebrating a successful weekend of racing and related events…
No issues at all, really, and lots of volunteers turning out. Laurium finish was excellent, Calumet start was beautiful as always, Copper Harbor and Eagle Harbor pulled it together for amazing checkpoints, and it’s been a really good race year.
Race Director Kelly Probst said everyone seemed happy with the shift of Saturday’s CopperPull and CopperDash, and Sunday’s CopperDog 120 finish, to the George Gipp Recreation Area in Laurium…
This is so great what they pulled together here – very grateful to coordinator Megan and Ian and all the people that volunteered their time here today at the Gipp.
She said they anticipate continuing that relationship next year.
Mike Bestgen led from start to finish as he won his second straight three-stage CopperDog title. The defending CopperDog 150 champion carried a slim 13-second lead into Saturday’s second stage of the resized CopperDog 120. He increased his lead to nine minutes on Saturday, then blistered the final stage yesterday to build the margin to more than 16 minutes. As the leader, Bestgen was last out of the gate as stage three began in Copper Harbor. He passed every other musher on the course to become the first to reach the finish line in Laurium. Jake Golton finished second, and Sarah Tarlton third.
At the CopperDog 30 on Friday night, Danny Edmonson took the title, with Larry Fortier second, and Joann Fortier third. At the CopperDog 15 sprint in Copper Harbor Saturday, Golton took his second-straight title, scorching the icy course at an event-record 15.6 miles per hour. Seventy-seven-year-old Bob Lee finished second. Kashton Beaber won the new Junior CopperDart, averaging 14.3 miles per hour over the five-mile course. Sarah Anderson was second, just five seconds off the pace.
You can see full results at CopperDog.org.
CopperPull organizer Chris Kivi was also pleased with the move to the Gipp…
We had 14 dogs yesterday morning (Saturday), we had 17 last night. I don’t have the count for today (Sunday) – somewhere around 14, 15.
Kivi said good conditions led to some impressive weight pulls…
Most weight pulled last night was almost 600 pounds. The cooler temps had the weights up.
In just its third year, Kivi says the CopperPull has already become a significant event in the growing sport…
It’s the only weight pull in the whole Upper Michigan area, and it’s the only winter pull in the Midwest, unless you go down below Lake Michigan.
Organizers thanked the volunteers who made the 16th CopperDog successful, including as many as a hundred spectators who held up the fences along the snow road in downtown Calumet Friday evening, when wind gusts threatened to blow them down.
