The following short videos provide an overview of the new CopperDog registration system and how to register for a 2024 CopperDog race.
The CopperDog plans to hold four races, the CD15, CD30, CD80, CD150. The board approved the race purse in advance of the opening of race registration scheduled for October 21st, 2023 at 12:00 PM EDT.
Join us at the Copper Country #404 Elks Lodge in Calumet for our Volunteer Appreciation Night!!! It’s the least we can do to show how amazed and thankful we are for the army that makes the CopperDog churn before, during, and after our race weekend!
There will be food, drinks, music, prizes, swag, memorabilia, and most importantly a chance to visit with friends, mushers, volunteers, sponsors, and officials
Join us as we celebrate a now renowned and world class event that is put on by you the volunteer!!! 2024? It’s right around the corner!!
The CopperDog is a community effort – without you the dedicated volunteers that show up every year, there would be no CopperDog!
The CopperDog is a community effort – without you the dedicated volunteers that show up every year, there would be no CopperDog!
Ryan Anderson put in a strong performance to win the 2023 CopperDog 150 on Sunday, March 5th. Michael Bestgen who has run every CopperDog150 race placed second, followed by J.R. Anderson who came in third. Another strong showing by Rita Wehseler found her finishing in fourth place ahead of our fifth place finisher Joanna Oberg. Our local musher and great supporter of the CopperDog, Tom Bauer finished in sixth place. All 17 teams finished the race. Maddie Longpre-Harrer, who grew up with the CopperDog along side her father Doug Harrer, completed her first CopperDog150.
| TOTAL TIME | Δ FIRST | Δ NEXT | BIB# | MUSHER | MPH | PLACE |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10:18:36 | 14 | Ryan Anderson | 12.8 | 1st | ||
| 10:24:39 | 0:06:03 | 5 | Michael Bestgen | 12.7 | 2 | |
| 10:36:56 | 0:18:20 | 0:12:17 | 9 | JR Anderson | 12.4 | 3 |
| 11:05:35 | 0:46:59 | 0:28:39 | 8 | Rita Wehseler | 11.9 | 4 |
| 11:13:35 | 0:54:59 | 0:08:00 | 11 | Joanna Oberg | 11.8 | 5 |
| 11:15:54 | 0:57:18 | 0:02:19 | 1 | Tom Bauer | 11.7 | 6 |
| 11:26:02 | 1:07:26 | 0:10:08 | 2 | Sarah Tarlton | 11.6 | 7 |
| 11:26:41 | 1:08:05 | 0:00:39 | 15 | Frank Holmberg | 11.5 | 8 |
| 11:34:07 | 1:15:31 | 0:07:26 | 4 | Bucky Tippett | 11.4 | 9 |
| 12:06:09 | 1:47:33 | 0:32:02 | 6 | Mary Manning | 10.9 | 10 |
| 12:06:09 | 1:47:33 | 0:00:00 | 7 | Lauren Stukenborg | 10.9 | 10 |
| 12:21:30 | 2:02:54 | 0:15:21 | 10 | Jennifer Freking | 10.7 | 12 |
| 12:29:25 | 2:10:49 | 0:07:55 | 16 | Brian Kandler | 10.6 | 13 |
| 12:31:56 | 2:13:20 | 0:02:31 | 13 | Laura Neese | 10.5 | 14 |
| 13:11:30 | 2:52:54 | 0:39:34 | 3 | Blake Freking | 10.0 | 15 |
| 13:29:12 | 3:10:36 | 0:17:42 | 12 | Maddie Longpre-Harrer | 9.8 | 16 |
| 14:07:57 | 3:49:21 | 0:38:45 | 17 | Kevin Daugherty | 9.3 | 17 |
Lynn Witte put in an impressive performance winning by a margin of 24 minutes over a tightly contested battle for second place where just a few minutes separated our second place finisher Joann Fortier, our third place finisher Heather Brandon, and Alex Laplante who finished in fourth place
The CopperDog mission is to develop charitable, educational, and benevolent activities dedicated to the enrichment, development, and vitality of communities, natural resources, and trail systems in Michigan’s Keweenaw Peninsula through world-class events, creating informational and educational opportunities, encouraging national recognition, specifically with respect to advancing national and international sled dog sports including sled dog racing and an understanding of the historic role of sled dogs in a natural environment.
Our ‘Featured Artist Program’ (FAP) goes right along with our mission! The 2023 FAP was open to all Houghton and Keweenaw County High School Students including homeschoolers. With this in mind, the CopperDog Board of Directors is pleased to announce winner of the 2023 FAP;
Trista Berryman from The Official Calumet High School!!! And in her own words;
“Hello, My name is Trista Berryman, a 10th grader at Calumet High School. My piece is titled, “Racing On Orange Gold”, which is a reference to the copper found in the Copper Country. Throughout the piece, I tried to incorporate the colors mint and orange, to represent copper during oxidation, and in its original state. The medium I used was digital.”
The Featured Art will be on the 2023 official race poster, which will be visible throughout the Keweenaw and surrounding areas, as advertising for this year’s race. Each official in the race will also be wearing Trista’s artwork on a badge. In addition, CopperDog may sell the poster to the public as part of our 2023 merchandising efforts, which provides support for this premier community event. The artwork could also be featured on CopperDog merchandise.
The Featured Artist will also be present at the start ceremony in downtown Calumet on Friday night. All monies raised from the Featured Artist sales are considered part of the overall fundraising efforts, which support the annual CopperDog events.
Did we tell you how hard it was to pick a winner from all of our submissions??? It was extremely hard…
We are incredibly proud of our area youth and are also happy to display in this post the two runners up to the FAP – which are no less incredible! Thank you Vanessa and Rain!!
We already can’t wait for 2024!!!
