On the eve of the 40^th John Beargrease Sled Dog Marathon, mushers gathered together to celebrate with their traditional bib draw and opening ceremony.

“The mushers anticipate the bib draw because that tells them where they are going to be in the lineup. Which is important and especially on maybe a little bit of a snow year this year, it might even be more important because I think there will be some pretty unique strategy going on with the mushers. Starting with less dogs or more dogs. And I think it’s going to be interesting,” said Mike Keyport, president of the John Beargrease Sled Dog Marathon board of directors.

After cancelling the marathon in 2024, and a list of changes added to the 2025 race due to warm temperatures, many are left with concerns. But Keyport says the board had done everything they can to ensure the safety of all racers.

“Most all of these mushers really know how to take care of their dogs. A lot of the local mushers know that area of the trail real well. I think with their expertise and everything as a whole that I think we’ll be able to put on a safe race,” said Keyport.

Mushers and competitors like Erin Aili are excited to hit the trails once more, even with the changes.

“We’re excited to be having a race. It’s great that they’re putting it on despite the questionable weather we’ve had in low snow. And so, expect the first part of the course to be fairly hard trails. They’re a little bit icy, but we’ve heard there’s more snow further up the shore. So, it should be good and that should be a lot of fun,” said Aili.

And despite warmer than expected weather, the John Beargrease Sled Dog Marathon is ready to take off for another year.

“It’s just going to be great to be able to be out there,” said Aili.