UP 200 Race Start

Tim's kennel logo, Tim with wife Jenny tying on his bib before the start of the race

We headed up to Marquette, MI, today to watch the start of the UP 200. The first thing we did was find Tim Calhoun. We found him by his "Seek Wilderness Adventures" truck. I introduced myself to him, and with him being a man of few words, I let him get back to his race preparations. I was also able to meet his wife Jenny and his children Katie, Gunner, and Cody. Such nice people! Then I met Peggy, whom I'd been talking to on the phone for so long, her husband Bob, and their good friends. They all made us feel so welcome and a part of the extended family.

Emmaline & Jon petting Greta

After petting some of the dogs, especially sweet little Greta, we went to find a vantage point along the chute--not an easy task considering how many people turn out for the start of this race. After seeing Tim off, we moved a little further down the trail to watch the mushers coming down a hill and around a curve. That was a little more interesting than the straightaway!

Tim and the team are off and running!

We watched all of the mushers leave, and then we headed to our usual post-start vantage point at the Michigan Welcome Center along Lake Superior. This is a great place to watch the mushers going by in the dark. After this stop, we went to the Deerton school, half-way between Marquette and Munising. This is a checkpoing for the Midnight Run, and a great spot to view the UP 200 mushers go on by. The plan was for the Calhoun supporters to meet there so we could let Tim know the time so he could check his pace. The Midnight Run checkers gave us the names of the mushers that had been there before we got there--no Tim. We stood there and watched musher after musher go through, but no Tim. Since he was bib #3, we eventually figured that he must have gone through before any of the Midnight Run checkers got there--after all, they didn't need to check the UP 200 mushers. We may have missed Tim, but we enjoyed a nice bonfire and new friends.