Information from Visit Keweenaw.
CALUMET, Michigan (Feb. 15, 2023) — Mushers from North America will gather in Calumet on Friday, March 3 for the CopperDog 150. The sound of howling, barking sled dogs in lines will fill starting points until the countdown nears closer to “three… two… one!” Dog teams take off and fall silent as they focus on mushing across the cold, snowy Keweenaw terrain.
“It’s great to see all the people back downtown like it kind of used to be in the old days when Fifth Street was filled up with people,” said CopperDog 150 Volunteer Director and Musher Liaison Krissy Kovachich. “That’s what CopperDog does. It brings everybody back, and it brings back such great memories.”
In fact, CopperDog 150 is expecting a large crowd this year. It’s added a new race, the CD30, which is a 30.8-mile race allowing 20 teams. Kovachich says if all the races fill up, there may be as many as 600 “CopperDogs” in the Keweenaw that weekend. There are four main race brackets, so be sure to watch as much as you can through Sunday, March 5.
With such a large turnout expected, Kovachich says the CopperDog crew has a big need for volunteers.
“There are actually 632 positions that we need throughout the weekend,” said Kovachich. “The needs are dog handling and being crossing guards That’s basically just helping the teams and the mushers get across all the road crossings safely. There’s jobs where you can assist the veterinarian when they check out the dog. There’s jobs for bag checkers, that’s basically all the mushers have a required list of items that they need to have in their bag when they’re running. These volunteers just have a checklist, and they make sure the mushers have the stuff they need.”
If you’re determined to help, setup and teardown efforts take a lot of help.
“All that fencing on Fifth Street [in Calumet,]” said Kovachich. “The more people you have, the quicker it gets done. Especially that teardown at night when everything is all done.”
You can sign up online to volunteer for the weekend of the CopperDog 150.
Please reach out if you have any questions about CopperDog or would like to connect with event organizers.
LINKS:
CopperDog 150 Media Photos (Visit Keweenaw)