The Gunflint Mail Run has been around since before the John Beargrease Sled Dog Marathon. Arleigh Jorgenson used to be a musher and was involved in the initial organization of the race. 

“1976, I think was the regional year. A group of us who were mushers down by Grand Marais. I wanted to have a race that had a little more distance,” said Jorgenson. “There was a lot of spring racing going on, but the Iditarod was starting in Alaska, long distance. There were races in Canada of 30 miles, 50 miles. We thought, we have the perfect environment for a race of some distance that would really highlight our location, the Gunflint Trail.” 

The race was postponed and then canceled last year due to the lack of snow. This year, it was postponed and then went smoothly on February 8th. 

Cathy Quinn is the volunteer organizer, wrangling over a hundred volunteers. 

“We’ve got volunteers positioned throughout the race course at various road crossings to make sure that the public is safe and the mushers and the dogs are safe as they travel along the race course,” explained Quinn. “So we’ve also got timers. We have people doing the bag checks for the mushers in the morning. There’s traffic control. There’s a lot of different needs. And so it’s kind of all hands on deck.”

Eleven mushers competed this year, with ten dogs per team in the 65-mile race. The race includes a three-hour rest. Part of the reason for this mandatory rest is to prepare teams for the Beargrease and other long-distance interval races. 

“It’ll be difficult for some of these teams to settle down and rest well when they get back here because they’re going to want to go again,” said Jorgenson. “So they need to learn how to do that. It’s sometimes just a challenge, especially for some of your best dogs that just want to run.”

The race begins and ends at the Trail Center, an iconic restaurant on the Gunflint Trail. Rita Wehseler from Tofte won this year’s race. It was her first Gunflint Mail Run win. 

“It’s really exciting, and I just love this race. I love the Gunflint community,” said Wehseler. 

Matthew Schmidt placed second in the 2025 Gunflint Mail Run. Schmidt, who is from Grand Marais, congratulated Wehseler during the awards ceremony after the race. 

“ I don’t think there is any doubt in anyone’s mind that you win this,” said Schmidt. “We were talking this morning, we were like, maybe we get a chance a second.”

Contrary to Schmidt’s opinion that she was a shoe-in, Wehseler says she was not sure who would win for most of the race. 

“I remember going through 92, and somebody went, ‘congratulations on winning the race.’ And I turned around and I said, ‘uh-uh, it ain’t over until it’s over.’ I was looking behind me for Matt, because I had a tangle out on the lake right when I left,” explained Wehseler. “My one leader tried to go to the right and go to the right, and I had to lead him back to the trail. I got a big tangle, and that can take three, four minutes.I had an 11-minute lead.”

Wehseler added that she knew she won the race when she was halfway across the lake and saw no one behind her. 

“That’s when I figured I– I literally told my dogs, ‘I think we got this,’ and they just started whooping like crazy. And it was like, OK, I guess we got it.” 

Wehseler had several younger dogs on her winning team. It was the first race run by one of the pups, named Rainy. The team’s total time was five hours, 20 minutes, and eight seconds. 

“It felt like I was going a lot slower than I did, but I had a good run,” said Wehseler. “I give it all to the dogs. The dogs were awesome out there. Those young dogs, just like Rainy was still plowing ahead at the end, and Energetic. I mean, she was still jumping up and down when we crossed the finish line, which is really what you want. And they were still happy.”

Wehseler and Schmidt will face-off again in the John Beargrease Sled Dog Marathon this weekend, competing in the 120. Mushers Blake and Jen Freking and William Sima are also competing in both races this year. Erin Altemus, Mary Manning, and David Burge will be racing in the full marathon.