Musher Ryan Anderson is closer to his goal of being undefeated
Ryan Anderson added another notch in his belt of wins over the weekend at the U.P. 200 sled dog race in Marquette, Mich.
The 29-year-old musher from Ray has challenged himself to go undefeated in the four races he competes in this year. Last weekend’s win puts him at three out of four.
“I’m one step closer,” Anderson said of reaching his goal.
His first win of the year was at the 10 dog pro race at the White Oak Classic Sled Dog Race. This was his third consecutive year of winning that class of the race.
Three weeks ago, Anderson moved on to a bigger victory as he clinched the first place spot in the John Beargrease Sled Dog Marathon — a race he has struggled with in the past.
Nathan Schroeder of Chisholm, who finished second behind Anderson in the Beargrease, came up just short of him again in the U.P. 200.
Anderson, who has become familiar with Michigan’s popular race, said conditions at this year’s race were less than favorable.
“All their snow melted right before the race,” he told The Journal Monday.
Much like other areas around the Midwest last week, Marquette’s temperatures reached as high as 58 degrees Feb. 16 and 48 degrees Feb. 17. The race started Friday evening, Feb. 18.
Anderson said that temperatures cooled down during the race start, causing the trail to become a mixture of gravel and ice.
Unfortunate trail conditions, and cooler temperatures didn’t stop spectators from celebrating the event. Anderson said about 5,000 people still flooded the streets of Marquette to cheer on mushers and their teams.
“The start to the U.P. 200 is the second biggest compared to the Iditarod,” he explained.
Anderson described the first 60 miles of the 240-mile race as “pretty bad.
“The snow had basically disappeared. We were pretty much running on gravel roads for the first leg of the race,” he said.
Conditions improved during the race, he said. The further east the trail went, lake effects brought in 2-4 inches of snow to pick the race up, he said.
Coming out of the first leg of the race, Anderson said he was in sixth place. It was during the second half that he gained and held onto the lead.
According to Anderson, his team handled the threatening trails well. Other mushers, however, weren’t so lucky.
“There were people being taken to the hospital,” Anderson said. “It was really slippery.”
In the end, Anderson said officials cut the race about 60 miles short to avoid the gravel hazards at the beginning of the trail.
Anderson and his team spent a total of 15 hours, 56 minutes, and 24 seconds on the trail.
In three weeks, Anderson will travel to Fort Kent, Maine, to race in the CAN-AM Crown International Sled Dog Race. This will be his fourth and final race of the season and a golden opportunity to achieve his goal.
Anderson earlier told The Journal: “Last year, I was one race shy of the same goal, we’ll see what happens this year.”
