More than a hobby

The 29-year-old musher from Ray has been racing sled dogs nearly all his life. He has challenged the Beargrease Marathon five times in his racing career. He finished in fourth place in 2008 and had to scratch, or withdraw, from the others.

Not this year.

This year, he was going to win — and win he did.

“I’ve had my ups and downs with the Beargrease,” Anderson said of his experiences in the race. “Some of it was my own fault, some of it was just unfortunate circumstances.”

This year, after the four-day, nearly 400-mile trip from Duluth up the North Shore of Lake Superior, up the Gunflint Trail, and back to Duluth, Anderson and his team of 11 dogs crossed the finish line shortly before 9:30 a.m. Feb. 2 with a record time of 39 hours, 51 minutes, 4 seconds.

The win and the record added to his list of accomplishments in Beargrease-titled races: Anderson is the youngest person to run a Beargrease race; the youngest person to win a Beargrease race; and now the only person who has won both the mid-distance (2001) and the marathon Beargrease races.

“It feels good to win,” Anderson said of this year’s victory.

For a majority of the race, Nathan Schroeder of Chisholm, the 2010 Beargrease defending champion who is also a good friend of Andersons, secured the lead.

At one point in the race, Anderson heard his time and was pleased that it could place him in the top three.

“Then I heard Nathan’s time and I thought, ‘Wow I guess he’s not slowing down,’” he said with a laugh. “I figured there was no way to pass him.”

His doubt escalated as he watched Schroeder’s strong 10-dog team leave Sawmill, one of the final checkpoints in Tofte, at 4:45 a.m. Feb. 2. Anderson left at 5:30 a.m. with 11 dogs and caught up to Schroeder a short while after.

“I knew we still had a long way to go, but I had hope,” he said.

In the end, Anderson crossed the finish line just 20 seconds ahead of Schroeder to win the 28th annual race.

“Twenty seconds is still quite a distance, but it sure was a close race,” Anderson said.

After being bombarded by cameras and hoards of people wanting autographs following his victory, Anderson acknowledged that adjusting back to “normal life” after four days of racing solitude was a bit difficult.

“I was driving the truck back to the hotel going 30-40 miles per hour on the freeway,” he said with a laugh. “It felt so fast compared to the last 400 miles I spent going nine miles per hour.”

The humble musher said the celebration of his win was anything but glamorous. He said he and his fiance, Missy Carpentier, ordered a pizza, got a six-pack of beer and were asleep by 6 p.m.

All he knows

Anderson has been running dog teams since he was 5 years old growing up in Pine City. His father, Howie, was a musher who competed in the Beargrease from 1987-89. When he was younger, Anderson remembers he and his brother JR would take a six-dog team for fun runs on the weekends. One brother would run the dogs one way with the other sitting on the sled and then they would switch places for the return trip.

“My sister, Miki, has also done a few races, but now she’s more on the handling end,” he said.

As Anderson became more involved in sled dog racing, he became more addicted to the sport.

Anderson’s first recreational Beargrease race was in 1992 when he was 11 years old. The same year, he ran the George Esslinger Sled Dog Race that was based in International Falls.

In high school, he set a goal to be the first Minnesotan to win the Iditarod — the world-famous Alaskan sled dog race.

After high school, Anderson chose to pursue racing dogs instead of venturing off to college. While visiting fellow Ray musher Keith Aili one winter, Anderson made the decision to make his home in Ray.

“This is one of the best places to train a sled dog team,” he said.

Raising his team

Anderson’s favorite part of the sport isn’t participating in the race itself — it’s raising his team of dogs.

He said he most enjoys raising puppies, training puppies, figuring out which ones to breed and then repeating the cycle.

Anderson’s team is relatively young. While he has four or five veterans, most of the team is a made up of 1 to 3 year olds.

“They’re nuts,” Anderson of his energetic, young team.

He was quick to add, however, that he has received numerous compliments on how well behaved his dogs are.

He explained that when dogs are 4-5 years old, they are at their prime both mentally and physically. As proud as he is of his dogs now, Anderson looks forward to the team reaching their potential in a few years.

Around the age of 6, he said he starts thinking about which ones to sell and which ones to breed. By the time a dog is 7, Anderson feels it is nearing retirement.

“When anyone is getting ready to retire they can’t wait until they do,” Anderson said. “The dogs are no different. By the time they’re 7 years old, they’re ready to be done. That is how I manage my kennel, anyway.”

When selling a dog, Anderson said he looks for good homes.

“A lot of times when I sell a dog, I am able to see them afterward and that makes it easier,” he explained. “I’d rather let them go somewhere they can run or race, which is what they love to do. I just can’t give all of them that opportunity.”

A good sled dog team is built on trust, Anderson noted.

“If they don’t trust me, they won’t do anything,” he explained. “When I ask my team to go, they don’t hesitate.”

“Grizzly” is an exceptional dog, he said.

“When I first harness-broke Grizzly, he wasn’t sure if he wanted to be a sled dog or not,” Anderson explained. “I spent hours upon hours with that dog and gave him so much praise. As a result, he came out to finish in the Beargrease marathon for me.”

Anderson said the dogs are essentially his children, and to watch them develop into confident sled dogs is very rewarding. He has 43 sled dogs that live outside and seven dogs in the house, including Clove, who gets around using a dog wheelchair.

“I’m always believe that the dogs come first,” he said. “I want them to eat before me, I want them to do everything before me.”

He added, “I’ve built my life around the dogs. A lot of what I learn is from them. They teach me so many things, both good and bad.”

Strong support

Anderson described Beargrease, or any challenging race, as being impossible without “an awesome support group.”

There is no time for long periods of rest at race checkpoints. Without a strong handling crew, the dogs and the musher wouldn’t get any down time.

“On these three- to four-hour breaks, by the time you take care of your dogs and get some food yourself, there is only about 45 minutes to an hour to lay down before it’s time to start getting the dogs back up again,” he said. “Without a support crew, a race is so difficult. Everyone who wins any challenging race has an awesome crew — I do have an awesome crew.”

Anderson’s crew consists of his mom, sister and Carpentier.

The Beargrease was Anderson’s first race that Carpentier was involved in from start to finish.

“I’m expecting a win from every one now,” she said winking at her fiance.

The dogs make up a lot of support, too.

Anderson said he likes to rotate his dogs to have them all experience running lead, or in the front.

“Good lead dogs end up taking charge. They just know,” he explained.

“The checkpoints are all about the dogs,” Carpentier said. “Their care is the most important.”

Anderson met Carpentier while she was finishing veterinary school at the University of Minnesota.

“I was assigned to the dog Ryan brought in,” she explained. “When I saw him standing down the hall, I just knew he was ‘the one.’”

Anderson added, “It really was love at first sight.”

Anderson joked that he didn’t plan on his future wife being a veterinarian, but it just proves the pair are “perfect for each other.”

The couple plan to wed in September 2012.

Goals

Anderson has one goal in mind for 2011 — to go undefeated.

Prior to his Beargrease marathon victory, Anderson clinched the champion title in the 10 dog professional race of the White Oak Classic Sled Dog Race. This was his third year in a row winning that race class.

“Last year, I was one race shy of the same goal — we’ll see what happens this year,” he said.

Anderson and his team will travel to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan Feb. 18 for the UP 200, a race of which Anderson is very familiar with.

Two weeks later, he will be bound for Fort Kent, Maine, to race in the CAN-AM Crown International Sled Dog Race.

The team has been training since October and those four long, vigorous months will hopefully soon pay off.

Anderson said his passion of racing sled dogs has been a good life for him so far and he doesn’t know what he’ll do if he retires from the sport.

“I don’t know what else I’d do,” he said laughing. “This is all I know.”

And while he never imagined he’d accomplish what he has at such a young age, he looks forward to what else is in store for him. And, he thinks he still wants to run — and hopefully win — the Iditarod.

“This is my profession,” he said. “It is so much more than a hobby.”

For photos, pick up today's edition of The Journal.