Keweenaw Gears Up for U.P. 200 Companion Race

Marquette County is just beginning to calm down from the additional traffic of the U.P. 200 race weekend.

The weekend-closing musher breakfast took place this morning.

But the Copper Country is getting into high gear, preparing for its own sled dog event.

It’s the Copper Dog 150.

As the name suggests, it’s a 150-mile dogsled race from Calumet, to Gay, to Copper Harbor, and then back to Calumet.

One of the organizers is a musher himself.

He wanted to help bring the U.P. 200 weekend’s unique flavor to the western U.P.

Race Director Brian Tiura says he competed in the 2009 U.P. 200, and in fact he was the first musher out of the chute that Friday night.

He says the experience of the spectators three- and four-deep on Washington Street in Marquette, cheering his team and the other teams on, convinced him to get involved in the Copper Dog 150 once he heard of plans to start it.

The 150 starts and ends on 5th Street in Calumet outside the Conglomerate Cafe.

The U.P. 200’s downtown start is a large part of the race’s appeal, so Tiura thought it was critical for the Copper Dog 150 to have one as well.

The race starts at 7pm Friday night, March 12th, and it should end at about noon Sunday, the 14th.

If you want to know any more of the details, or about volunteering, Tiura says you can go online to www.copperdog150.com .