ELY – Howling winds drowned out the symphony of howling dogs at the start of the WolfTrack Classic sled dog race Sunday morning. Despite gale force gusts, a drifted-over racetrack and even knee-deep lake slush, 40 teams started and finished the 11th annual Ely winter tradition.

“We haven’t had that many racers in many, many years, said WolfTrack board member and racer Scott Edgett. He said the trails were in excellent condition in spite of the challenging weather. “We definitely have plenty of snow this year,” Edgett said. “There were some blowing drifts we had to plow through and a couple of areas where the trail was hidden from view, but the dogs just stayed on scent and we kept moving forward.”

The 2019 WolfTrack Classic winner split a prize purse of $6,000 this year. The top five eight-dog teams split a race purse of $3,400, and the top five six-dog teams split $2,400.

Leading the nine eight-dog teams with a 50-mile time of 4 hours 45 minutes and 16 seconds was Canadian musher Brian Bergen who entered the race late in the week.

He finished just four minutes ahead of defending 2018 WolfTrack champion Ryan Anderson who had a time of 4:49:11. “Heading across Bear Head Lake this year was much better than last year, Anderson said. “There wasn’t as much loose snow this year,” he said. “Everything was flat out there other than the drifts and the head winds and the ground blizzard. We ran into slush too. It was about 16 inches deep, but there wasn’t much of it to deal with. It might have gotten worse for the other racers.”

Veteran musher Frank Moe came in third at 5:07:26. Finland resident Blake Freking, the 2019 John Beargrease Marathon champion, did not enter a team. His wife, Jen Freking, who is also an Ely veterinarian, finished fourth with a time of 5:39:42.

Al-Jo Thiart led the field of 31 six-dog teams this year for 30 miles with a time of 2:21:37, followed close on her heels by Liz Vanden Toorn at 2:24:48, and Gerhardt Thiart at 2:28:52.

Jim Ward, of Duluth, finished the six-dog race with a time of 2:29:33. “This was my fourth time up here in Ely,” Ward said. “I thought the track was hard and fast. I had a good race. The wind kept the trail hidden at times, but the dogs always seem to keep on scent and find the trail again.”

Vermilion Community College’s Law Enforcement, Dog Sledding Class and Wilderness Club provided support this year. “New to the WolfTrack Classic was Team Rubicon, a fantastic group of veterans, first responders and civilian volunteers who provided assistance as first response,” Edgett said. The Vermilion Range Amateur Radio Club provided communications throughout the day. “We also would like to thank all the many individual volunteers who helped out too. It takes a lot of people to pull this event off every year.”

For complete race results, go to www.wolftrackclassic.com.

WOLFTRACKCLASSIC.ORG.