Sled dog racing is one of the few sports that has no separation between male and female athletes. It’s also a sport where mushers start out early, some in their preteens, with the junior races in sub-zero temperatures almost as grueling as the adult classes.
One of those young mushers is 18-year-old Morgan Martens of Brule, who has competed in both the junior Beargrease and Junior Iditarod, winning the latter at age 14 in 2021. He says the dogs are just as competitive as the mushers, and all have their own personalities.
“It’s hard to choose favorites because they each have their own characteristics that are so different,” Martens said of his family’s 36 Alaskan huskies, among them lead dogs “that are very smart and can lead the team in any conditions.”
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Last year, Martens had hoped to become the youngest winner of Duluth’s John Beargrease Sled Dog Marathon but was thwarted by the race’s cancellation due to lack of snow. Now, the Northwestern High School senior is back out on the trails, training for this year’s Beargrease.
He spoke with WPR’s Robin Washington on “Morning Edition” about the races, his family and their dogs.
This interview has been edited for clarity and brevity.
Robin Washington: How much time a day do you spend practicing and how many miles do you cover?
MM: Both my sister Talia and I work very diligently every single day to make sure the dogs are well taken care of, well-fed and well-trained. I would say we spent anywhere from two to 12-plus hours training and taking care of the teams.
As far as distance goes, we’ll cover close to 2,500 miles over a training and racing season.
RW: You and your sister aren’t the only ones in your family driving teams of dogs.
MM: About 30 years ago, my mom got a couple of stray huskies that came running down the driveway. Nobody came to pick them up, so she adopted them.
Other mushers heard that she had sled dogs and gave my mom a couple of their old dogs. And before you know it, my mom had a group of 12 dogs.
She began mushing because she didn’t think she was going to be able to have kids because she had diabetes. And before you know it, she had dogs and kids. So my sister and I grew up with the dogs and we started doing bigger and bigger races.
RW: Tell us about your dogs.
MM: It’s hard to choose favorites because they each have their own characteristics that are so different. We have 36 Alaskan huskies. Around half of them are lead dogs that are very smart and can lead the team in any conditions. Our litters include the rock family — Ruby, Diamond, Emerald Cole, Mulch, Pearl. Another is the Ice Age litter.
RW: Who are your heroes in the sport?
MM: One is Ryan Reddington, the 2023 Iditarod champion. I was fortunate enough to spend the last four winters training with him every single day.
Another is Jamie Nelsona, four-time Beargrease champion. Mushing is a very tight-knit community and everybody helps everybody out.
RW: Sometimes you’re in a situation where there is no one to help you out. I read an account of you in Alaska on the Iditarod, and there was a cow moose and her calf ahead, and no humans around for miles.
MM: I was 14 years old, racing in the 150-mile Junior Iditarod. This situation was particularly dangerous because a cow moose is very protective of her calf, and what we look like is a pack of wolves.
There was a curve in the trail and I thought I could possibly get by. We’re going as fast as we possibly can. And the moose just stands there and watches us.
RW: There are some activists who don’t think sled dog racing is the best thing for the dogs.
MM: I think the biggest misconception is the idea that the dogs don’t like running. I’ve found in my 18 years of growing up with dogs and owning a kennel of 36 Alaskan huskies, it’s the exact opposite. Our dogs that get to run every single day are some of the happiest and most energetic you will ever see in your entire life. These dogs absolutely love running. And they get to do what they love.
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