In what other sport can a fan lean down and get a big sloppy kiss from one of the athletes?
In what other sport have wardrobes gone so far to the dogs, fashion cast aside for warmth and full body coverage with various animal fur, Carhartt, blaze orange and Mad Bomber hats?
In what other sport is zero the perfect temperature, and where participants worry about it getting too warm at 20 above?
"Where else can you walk three blocks and see a real dog sled race?'' said Dan Kamben of Duluth. "This is part of living in the Northland.''
The 26th running of the John Beargrease Sled Dog Marathon started from Ordean Middle School in Duluth on Sunday afternoon under nearly perfect conditions for about 40 teams of dogs and mushers.
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"It's perfect. I'm ready to go,'' said musher Christine Richardson of New Hampshire as she hooked up her 14 dogs minutes before the full marathon started.
Because Richardson's dogs are shorter-haired, she prefers temperatures around zero. At 20 below, they get a bit chilled.
"And it's getting too warm at 20 above,'' she said.
That should not happen overnight on the trail, where temperatures are expected to bottom out in the teens below zero. And 20s above probably won't be seen until Wednesday, as the race wraps up.
Sunday's west wind was a little nippy for spectators like Kamben, his wife, Gina, and 18-month old daughter, Lila, who was tagging along for her first Beargrease. The Lakeside family was taking in the sights among hundreds of other fans split between the Ordean athletic field starting line and the Superior Street segment of the race course.
"It's an awesome, international event right here in our back yard,'' Gina said.
Beth and Tim Burton were part of the crowd making muffled, mittens-clapping sounds along the first segment of the 380-mile course. They had their dogs in tow as well -- or, more accurately, in carry.
The Shih Tzu mixes, Sophie and Sasha, were snug in a backpack and a newspaper carry bag and probably won't ever see the business side of a sled dog harness.
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"This is the Iowa sled dog team in training,'' joked Tim. The couple was taking a little vacation to follow the first two days of the race.
"We love the North Shore. We were married at Gooseberry Falls,'' Beth Burton said. "This is a great reason to come up and see it all in the winter.''
Victor Colway has come to Duluth for the Beargrease for a few years from his home in Kasota, Minn. His family has a few sled dogs of their own, but it's strictly a "low-key, recreational thing. Not like the pros here.''
Colway was tight to the railing along the starting line, where he likes to watch the racers talk to their dogs in the final seconds before each start.
Some dogs needed a little pep-talk and ear scratch. Others were literally hopping out of their harness, ready to run.
"I like to see the relationship between the musher and each dog,'' he said. "Every musher is a little different... and every dog is different. They're just like people that way. They have real personalities.''
