Photo: WDIO-TV

By Baihly Warfield from WDIO-TV - January 27, 2021

Competitors in the John Beargrease Sled Dog Marathon aren't just mushers - they're also mail carriers. 

It's a race tradition that acknowledges John Beargrease's job of running mail up and down the North Shore. People can purchase Trail Mail, write a letter, and it will be carried by a musher in the race before it ends up at its final destination via the more traditional methods. 

This year, Sarah Keefer of Burnsville, Minn., painted the watercolor that will be featured on the Trail Mail envelopes. She'll also be a rookie, looking to complete her first 300-mile Beargrease marathon. 

"I'm looking forward to seeing the dogs run for miles after miles and being on the sled and just the peacefulness and the solitude," Keefer said.

She did the Beargrease 120 in 2020, running a team of two-time champion Ryan Redington's dogs. She came in 8th and won Rookie of the Year. A photo afterward inspired her painting. 

"I had a reference photo of a couple of my dogs against one of our green sleds in the race I'd done last year. I just thought, I like the composition and I liked the way the dogs looked, and I whipped that up and they loved it," Keefer said. "And that's on the Trail Mail this year." 

The dogs featured will be in the race. She's running another Redington team this year, and Ryan Redington will be competing again too. 

"I'm running Sven, he's one of the dogs on the Trail Mail," she said. "And Ryan's going to be running Margot." 

2021 Trail Mail sales have closed.

The Beargrease starts at 9 a.m. Sunday. No spectators are allowed, but WDIO will stream the start online and on Facebook. 

To watch the original report and see related articles, follow this link to the WDIO-TV website.  https://www.wdio.com/news/mushing-trail-mail-mail-beargrease-sled-dog-marathon-/5991127/?cat=10335