Keweenaw Report Your Source for Local News and Sports
The annual Copperdog 150 and Copperdog 80 races concluded Sunday afternoon in downtown Calumet, bringing mushers and dog sled teams from as far away as Quebec, Canada.
“It was a fun event. It was challenging as normal, so I’m very happy with that,” said musher, J.R. Anderson, who finished 9th over all in the 150 mile race.
Mushers left Fifth Street Friday evening, as they made their way to Eagle Harbor, on to Copper Harbor, and then back to Calumet to cross the finish line with a supportive crowd anxiously awaiting their arrival.
Taking first place in the 80 Mile run was 16 year old French-Canadian Tristan Rivest of Quebec. Rivest said, “I started mushing at 4 years old. It’s a family thing and we all do. I’m proud of my team to win this race. It’s a big race and a big event. I like this race because it’s like a big family.”
Rivest has sled dog racing in his blood. He is the son of Anny Malo, who was last year’s Copperdog 150 winner by two seconds. This year, Anny took second in the 150, after having an issue with one of her dogs out on the trail.
During the awards ceremony following the race, she told a heartfelt story of fellow musher Frank Moe, who stopped his team during the race to perform CPR on Anny’s dog after he noticed that it was in life threatening trouble. He received a Good Sportsman Award, and a standing ovation from the crowd. The dog was revived and Moe finished in 11th place.
This year’s first place winner of the Copperdog 150 was Dennis Laboda, of Hovland, Minnesota. “It was close racing. Anny Malo from Quebec, she’s a fast team. The one thing about this all these teams, it was going to be close—hard to win. Glad to do it. And these other competitors are great people,” LaBoda said.
After the race, mushers, race coordinators and volunteers gathered at the Sacred Heart Church in Calumet where they received awards and collected trophies and prizes. This year’s purse contained over $27,000 with payouts to 1st through 10th place finishers.
Next year’s race is schedule for March 1st.
