Erin Aili has earned her second John Beargrease Sled Dog Marathon title.

She finished the 267-mile race at about 10:10 Tuesday morning, a shortened course due to a lack of snow between Duluth and Two Harbors.

It was a race of “the Erins” with Erin Altemus coming in second about 10 minutes later. Aili said she was checking over her shoulder for Altemus.

“Erin was right behind me, and I knew she had a good team,” Aili said. “I was trying to push to stay ahead of her.”

Watch the excitement at the finish line:

Aili is from Ray, Minn. Her first win came in 2021, when she competed as Erin Letzring.

Aili’s husband Keith Aili won the last Beargrease in 2023. The 2024 race was canceled because of low snow totals. He also has two wins, 2023 and 2006.

She had four dogs from his 2023 champion team on her 2025 crew.

“It’s an accomplishment,” Aili said of their back-to-back victories. “There’s lots of good teams out there, so to be able to do it two years in a row, I guess, from our kennel is just – proud of the dogs, proud of Keith and everything, all the time we put into it. It’s pretty cool.”

After being delayed from the original dates of January 26-28 due to lack of snow, the 40th running of the John Beargrease Marathon took off from Two Harbors on Sunday, March 2. There were multiple changes done to the race for dog safety.