The 40th annual Beargrease marathon kicked off today as despite the loss of snow, the teams and community rallied to continue the tradition. But with the sudden change of location in the week upcoming the event, there were some who were left unsure if they could still participate.

One of those groups was the people at Billy’s Bar. With the starting location being at what used to be the Beargrease 40 finish and Marathon/BG 120 checkpoint, it was unknown if Billy’s was going to stay connected to the event. The day after the announcement of the starting location change, the owner of Billy’s bar received a call if they could do a remote set up food and bar.

The team agreed and so brought lots of warm food for the mushers and people who showed up to kick off the race. “It’s been a very hectic three and a half days to put this together,” said Brain Larson, the owner of Billy’s Bar. “But something that we’re super excited to be able to do and be a part of. We love being a part of the Bear Grease and so to be able to have all of these folks, it’s all my family pretty much here you know helping to do this is pretty incredible.”

With Billy’s Bar providing warm food for the community, the volunteers of the dog crew and vet team make sure the dogs and mushers are ready for the marathon ahead. The dog crew was there to help control the dogs as each one pulled a considerable amount of force. Their power being so strong that in preparing to set off, each sled had an ATV hitched to them to counteract the power the sled dogs were pulling with.

The Vet Team though focused on keeping the dogs and mushers safe throughout the course of the marathon. They check on them periodically throughout the race, provide care as needed, and work with the mushers to both try to get them all down the trail and to the finish in as best health as possible.

With roughly 20 members stationed around the checkpoints, the vet team spends countless sleepless hours trying to constantly be available throughout the race. To the point that they make sure someone is at each checkpoint till the last racer has passed through. The Head Vet, who has been with the vet team for 10 years, spoke on the connections they make with the dogs and mushers.

“You do really get to know the mushers and their dogs pretty well. We see a lot of the same mushers year to year, and I think that’s really it helps build the kind of community aspect of the race. So, we are very much working with the mushers to help them help their dogs.”

The Beargrease brought a large amount of the community to see them take off as the 40th annual marathon began this morning.