Arrowhead 135 Ultramarathon

Good Luck to DJ and Mike, who are leaving Friday for the Arrowhead 135 Ultramarathon!

from the web site:

"The Arrowhead Winter Ultra is a non-profit human powered ultramarathon on bike, foot or skis, covering 135 miles across the Arrowhead Region of Northern Minnesota from International Falls near the Canadian border to Tower, MN. The course follows a scenic, hilly, State multi-purpose trail under extreme winter conditions starting at 7am--Monday, February 5 through Wednesday night, 7pm--Feb. 7th, 2007.

Completing the course is no small feat as winter temperatures in this area of Minnesota have been known to reach a record -60F degrees. No wonder the locals have dubbed their town the "Icebox of the Nation" and "Frostbite Falls".

There will be one race check point serving hot soup and water at a cabin about the midway point by Elephant Lake near the town of Orr. Otherwise, racers are fully self-supported with a cutoff time of 60 hours. Each racer is required to carry mandatory food, water and gear as outlined on the rules page to cover the 3 days and 2 nights outdoors."

Brrrrrr!!!!

Here are some (but not all) of the race rules I found on the site:

No outside help from anyone except other racers. This means that there are no support crews of any kind and no rides/tows accepted from snowmobilers, nor other vehicles. Participants are encouraged to help each other. The buddy system is a good way to do this race.

No littering. (and no stashes). This should be obvious but it is so important to us that we thought we should put it in the rules. Leave no trace. Make use of sanitation facilities provided along the trail. There is an outhouse next to each of 9 trail shelters along the trail. Bring your own t.p.

Last person to reach the MelGeorge's checkpoint wins the Myrtle the Turtle award.

Snow machines and dog sleds have right of way. You must pull to the right side of the trail and let them pass. Stop at all intersections and obey traffic rules.

(do wolves and bears have the right of way too??)

All racers are expected to carry or tow a minimum of 15 lbs. of gear (not including the sled, bike, skis, nor water) at all times and must finish with at least 1 day or 3000 calories of food and 8oz. of fuel. Racers may share gear and assist each other; however, each participant must have their own mandatory gear at all times.

(One hint they give is that a lb. of butter has 3200 calories!! ugh!)

They also mentioned somewhere that it burns too many calories to eat snow. better to take water. I guess I knew that already.

So, who wants to sign up for next year? Not me!

I think it's supposed to be 4 degrees here this weekend. I'm sure it's much colder up there. I hope it "warms" up a little for them by Monday!

Now THAT'S an adventure.