DULUTH, Minn. (AP) Defending champion Nathan Schroeder has won the 30th running of the John Beargrease Sled Dog Marathon in Minnesota.
The Chisholm native crossed the finish line in Duluth just before 1:30 p.m. Wednesday, four days after setting off on the 374-mile race along the north shore of Lake Superior.
It was Schroeder's third Beargrease Marathon title and his second consecutive win. He said beforehand that he was using it as a warm-up for Alaska's Iditarod.
A new management team took over the Beargrease and rebooted the Minnesota tradition after the previous volunteer crew announced in October they were canceling the race.
The race is named for John Beargrease, an Ojibwe Indian from Beaver Bay who delivered mail by dogsled along the lake's north shore in winter from 1879 to 1899.
